The Light
by mconnelly1
Summary: AU ZA. Beth has spent the past three years living in Alexandria Safe Zone with Jasmine, a girl who she considers to be family, and Jasmine's twin children. When a new large group shows up, Beth is certain that the boat will be rocked with the revelations they bring. (I'm rubbish at summaries - see AN inside for longer, more detailed summary. Rated M just in case. Slow burn. Bethyl)
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**Hello! **

**This is my first time ever writing a fic for TWD, however I have been creeping on here reading stories for what feels like forever. I can't leave these two alone and so I had to write a Bethyl fic of my own.**

**The idea first came to me as more of an OC story but I love Beth's character so I wanted to use her in this. For that reason, this story is AU from season 5. Here's my attempt at a more detailed summary in order to set some background for this fic;**

_**After two long years of running from place to place once the dead started walking; Beth has spent the past three years living in Alexandria Safe Zone with Jasmine, a girl she considers close enough to be her sister, and Jasmine's twin children. Beth is Alexandria's only doctor and spends most of her days balancing her time between treating those who need her help and looking after her adopted family. When a new group is brought into town, Beth is pleased to hear that she will be given help down at the clinic so that she can spend more time with herself and those that she cares about. And when a certain man with a rough exterior and a gruff attitude catches her eye, things are definitely going to change for the lone doctor who's known for being a little bit lost in the clouds.**_

**I'm overly paranoid that this story might get a little bit confusing with character's like Maggie so for the sake of keeping things simple, just treat it as though there was no Beth or anyone to take Beth's place in the characters lives, e.g. Maggie didn't have a younger sister, Daryl got out of the prison and found the others alone, Noah escaped from the hospital by himself and stumbled upon the group, etc. Questions about Beth's past will be addressed in future chapters.**

**OK, I hope that clears everything up. I hope you enjoy and please go easy on me - this is my first fic after all! All reviews/favourites/follows are appreciated. Thank you! :)**

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The sound of a door creaking as it opened slowly made Beth sit up straight in her bed. She snapped her head around to face whoever was entering the room, but the combination of her heavy eyelids and the dim lighting of the bedroom made it almost impossible to make out the silhouette of her intruder.

"Hello," Beth murmured into the darkness, a slight hesitance in her tone.

"Beth?" a familiar voice whispered back.

Beth furrowed her eyebrows and threw her covers away from her body. She flicked on the light by the side of her bed and signaled for the person to come in with one hand whilst her other rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

The end of the double bed that Beth called her own dipped slightly as extra weight began to shuffle on top of it. Four pairs of blue eyes met across the room that was now shining with artificial light.

"Couldn't sleep?" Beth kept her voice low with her question, careful not to wake the others who called this house their home.

"No," the little boy whispered back. Beth grabbed his small hand in hers and pulled him up the bed. He crawled along towards her without hesitancy before slipping himself next to her and under her clean sheets. Beth hummed happily as he made himself comfortable.

The truth was that Beth was more than used to this old song and dance by now. Oliver, whom she had adopted as her nephew, often had difficulty sleeping on his own at night. Although his mother slept in the bedroom across from his on the first floor, he still preferred to creep across the hallway and up the flight of stairs to make his way to Beth's bedroom.

Just a few years ago, Beth would have understood that most children who were four years old had nightmares from time to time and would seek the comfort of their parents or guardians when they awoke. Whilst she was only twenty three, she knew some of her friends who had had children at a young age and who struggled to get them to sleep in their own beds.

That was before everything changed. Nowadays Beth would find it strange for a child not to be having nightmares almost every time they slept when the dead had risen and were walking around, constantly trying to devour everything that was living.

"Do you think you can get back to sleep?" The boy nodded his head a few times to let her know that he thought he could and Beth responded by placing a gentle kiss upon his head. As he snuggled further underneath the sheets, she lent her body over his and switched off the lamp.

"I'm here now," Beth reminded him. "I won't let anything hurt you. I promise."

Although the room had plunged into darkness once more and she could no longer make out Oliver's facial expression, she instantly knew with those words that he would relax and fall to sleep with ease as he did every time she said them to him. After joining her nephew under the covers and lying down on her side, Beth began to run her fingers softly through his light brown hair that had recently been trimmed right down and hummed a lullaby that she could no longer remember the words to.

After a short while Oliver began to snore and Beth struggled to drift back to sleep. Part of her wished that she had somebody there to comfort her the way she always did with Oliver, but she frowned at the thought and mentally scolded herself for being so childish. There was no room for childish thoughts anymore; not in this world, in this lifetime. She had too many people that she cared about, too many people to protect.

Despite the fact that Oliver, his twin sister and their mother were not bound to Beth by blood, she still considered them to be family and could not imagine her life without them. She knew deep down that she would die to try and guarantee their safety and would risk her life before any of theirs.

"Goodnight, Oliver," Beth whispered into the dark room before facing her back to him and squeezing her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to force sleep upon her.

**xxxxxx**

High-pitched squeals and four pairs of hands shaking her body as violently as they possibly could awoke Beth several hours later. She exaggerated her groan of annoyance and her blue eyes flew open threateningly, which only caused the squeals to gain even more volume and pitch.

"What are you two doing?" Beth couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Oliver and his twin sister Ariella climbing all over her in bed. They scrambled away from her and clumsily sat themselves down cross-legged at the end of the bed.

Beth searched their piercing eyes that were a much lighter shade of blue that her own for a hint as to why they had woken her up so abruptly.

"We wanted you to come and see!" Ariella squawked. Beth raised a brow at her niece. "The new people, Beth. Mama says there's new people!"

Whilst Beth couldn't think of a verbal reaction - after all, she really hadn't been expecting that - she couldn't help that her eyes widened with wonder and almost shone with some child-like excitement that she couldn't tame in that moment. It had been a while since they had seen new faces in Alexandria and they had been desperately trying to come across others who could help out in the thriving little community that they had developed here and...

Beth stopped herself at that and mentally scolded herself the same way she had just a few hours before. She calmed herself down and closed her gaping mouth with a snap, trying her best to compose herself in front of the children before her who were so easily excited.

"Well that's interesting," she began, and the twins just nodded eagerly at her. Beth struggled to keep her twitching lips from turning upwards at the sight. "Maybe we should just let them be for now though, hm? I'm sure Deanna will introduce us all soon, and you know the rules. They have to be interviewed first before they're allowed to stay and be given jobs."

Ariella noticeably calmed at Beth's words. Her posture which had been stiff and rigid and excited was now more relaxed and loose. She began to play with her light brown hair that dribbled down her back and almost rested at her bottom. Oliver, on the other hand, furrowed his brows in defiance and crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest. Beth expected nothing less than a fight from him - he had always been much more difficult than his sister.

"I wanna see 'em," Oliver huffed. Beth raised her eyebrows at his attitude and tsk'd at him. He didn't back down easily, either.

"I know you do," Beth said gently, her eyes shimmering in understanding. "And you will see them. Eventually. When Deanna shows them where they can stay and gives them jobs to do. But until then, you'll have to wait patiently, just like me and you're mama will be doing."

As if on queue, their mother made her presence known by rattling on the door lightly. Beth smiled up at the woman she had called her sister since the dead had risen six years ago. Her brown eyes were warm and calm as they looked over Beth's disheveled appearance.

"Are you bothering your aunt?" The children clambered from the bed and rushed out of the room, a chorus of no's echoing down the hall. Beth giggled as she heard them rush down the stairs, calling after them to watch their step and not to run so quickly in the house.

Beth pushed herself from the bed and made her way over towards her wardrobe before grabbing her work clothes. As Alexandria's only doctor, Beth rarely got a day off; but today she had managed to get a bit of a lie in. She picked out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear underneath her white work coat.

"So, we have new people?" Beth questioned as she changed herself from her sleep shorts and over sized tee. She glanced over her shoulder towards her friend who nodded in response.

"Apparently so," Jasmine said with a shrug. "Arrived this morning, according to Aaron. A group. They've even got a baby with 'em, so I wouldn't be too surprised if Deanna sends them your way later on."

Beth nodded as she buttoned up her white coat and slipped her stethoscope around her neck.

"I doubt it, I'm pretty booked up today."

She rushed over towards her cream vanity table which was placed to the left of the glass doors which served as a barrier to her balcony. Beth grabbed her brush and began to run it through her soft blonde waves.

"Treating all those sneezes and sore throats?" Jasmine said with a knowing smirk. Beth rolled her eyes and ignored the comment.

"Do you need anything bringing back?" Beth asked once she had finished taming her hair. Jasmine just shook her head no and both of the girls made their way down the stairs before Beth departed from the house with a wave and made her way over to the clinic.

She had a feeling that today was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**I just wanted to make you all aware that I don't have anyone who proof-reads my chapters or anything. I do re-read them over and over and I do go back and edit things but sometimes spelling mistakes do slip through and after staring at something for so long, things just don't jump out at you like they do when you first read them. Please let me know if anything doesn't make any sense or is wrong so I can go back and fix it.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Morning's in Alexandria tended to have the same routine for almost all of its inhabitants - Beth included.

First things first, Beth would wake up just before sunrise and take a shower. She would dry her hair and get dressed as quickly as possible. Sometimes she remembered to get breakfast before she left the house, but more often than not she would forget.

Beth would leave the house just as the sun was lighting up the streets and she would make her way to the building that had been named The Clinic.

Sometimes Beth would treat serious wounds and would do major treatments for people, but she mostly found herself stuck with appointments to see the elderly or the very young who were suffering from coughs and colds and common illnesses that she could do little to help with. Beth was always friendly and polite and never let the boredom and slight annoyance that she truly felt with each mundane and usually unnecessary appointment seep through onto her face.

Before the apocalypse, Beth had plenty of friends. She had considered herself to be a normal nineteen year old; attending parties at the weekend, trying her best to concentrate on her exams during the week but preferring to go out with her friends and wander around town. Beth remembered the faces of all of her best friends who she hoped with all her heart had made it out of this alive.

She prayed for them sometimes, when she got a minute to herself and her God, and she tried not to dwell on what could have happened to them. Instead, she liked to think that they were thriving out there, too, and that perhaps one day Aaron would return from a recruiting mission with some of them in tow and they would be reunited once more.

Beth struggled to make friends in Alexandria. Everyone knew who she was - most of the people who lived in the community had seen her at least once, at an appointment they made themselves or at a routine check-up that Deanna, the leader of their community, insisted everybody have once every few months.

Despite being a familiar face, nobody seemed to interact with Beth much. Some people would greet her as she passed them in the street, but nobody bothered with her much. Jasmine said that it was because she was often drifting around in her own little world, her thoughts and ideas consuming her and distracting her from those around her.

Beth thought that it was because the people in Alexandria seemed more rude than anything and that they were incredibly naive to have settled into the life they had here. Beth still insisted that everyone in her household keep and emergency pack at the bottom of the stairs, ready in case anything was to ever happen that would mean they would have to leave in a hurry.

Jasmine didn't like the idea anymore as she had settled into life here, but Beth would remind her that nothing could last forever and after the time that they had experienced outside of the walls of the safe zone, she wasn't willing to risk letting her guard down completely.

The sound of her name being called out distracted her from her thoughts as she made her way towards the clinic. Beth blinked her blue eyes several times as she squinted in front of her in an attempt to make out the face of the person calling her over. A warm and welcoming smile spread across her face at the sight of the young girl who was stood outside of her home.

"Isabella!" Beth called with an exaggerated wave that made the little girl giggle with delight as she made her way down the white steps that led up to the porch of her home. Isabella opened her arms and gave her a hug before looking up at her, a toothy grin on her face. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I wanted to catch you on your way to work, to give you these," Isabella said as she handed Beth a bunch of wildflowers. "I picked them myself just yesterday. Daddy said I wouldn't be up early enough to see you, but I knew that I would."

Beth grinned in appreciation and gave the girl a kiss on her hairline.

"These are beautiful," Beth whispered as she gave the flowers a longing look. "I'll make sure to put them on my desk. Would you like them to go there?" Isabella nodded happily and let out another happy laugh as Beth shooed her away and told her that she would be round to see her soon.

**xxxx**

Beth's days at work were mostly uneventful, and she expected today to be the same as always. She spent most of her time in the clinic, however Deanna had sent someone (she really needed to learn the names of these people) to let her know to cancel her appointments for the afternoon and to tend to the new arrivals.

Frustrated at the thought of having to deal with disappointed patients who would take the cancellations out on her, Beth left the clinic after her lunch in a huff and headed over to the house where she was expected. She was relieved to see that it wasn't far from her own home and it meant that if she was quick about everything, she would be able to get home to Olivia and Ariella a little earlier than usual.

"Ah, Beth," Deanna's voice echoed through the hallway as Beth walked through the front door of an unfamiliar house. Beth plastered a smile onto her face and tried her best to engage in polite conversation. They spoke briefly about each other's well being before Deanna led the way into an empty room that was decorated with armchairs and a coffee table where Beth began placing her supplies.

"How would you like me to send them in?" Deanna questioned.

"Perhaps it would be easiest if you send any relatives in together? If there are any, of course, and then if not maybe individually. Just so that everything is confidential." Deanna nodded in agreement before leaving the room and closing the wooden door behind her. Beth took the chance to place herself in one of the comfortable armchairs and nestled herself in. She placed her notepad and pen in her lap and took a sip from her bottle of water just as the door opened.

"Hello," Beth said as the first few people walked through the door. A teenage boy carrying a baby girl walked through with a tall man close behind him. Deanna popped her head round the door and let Beth know that she would be making her way back to her own home but to call her if she needed anything else.

"I'm Beth, Alexandria's doctor. Pleasure to meet you," Beth said once Deanna had left. "Please, take a seat."

The man nodded his head once before introducing himself as Rick and his children as Carl and Judith. Beth gave them both genuine smiles and began asking routine questions that she still used from her training.

Whilst she hadn't actually had any medical proper medical training - after all, she had only been eighteen when the virus had spread - Beth had trained hard in the hopes of getting in to medical school and had continued to read up and teach herself everything she knew about the body and conditions. Nowadays, it wasn't just physical illnesses that wore people down and Beth had collected hundreds of books on both mental and physical illnesses and how to treat them over the past five years. Some of them had been lost in time, but she had most of them in the clinic and some scattered around her bedroom for when she wanted to brush up on topics that she was unsure of.

It was experience that was invaluable and it had taught Beth most of what she knew about medicine. She had good people skills and whilst she had been predominantly book-smart before the dead had started walking, she now prided herself in being a practical person and was proud to consider herself a doctor. Even if she didn't have all of the qualifications to possess that title, Deanna was happy enough with her abilities to treat the people of Alexandria, and that itself had to mean something.

Beth was scribbling everything down furiously on her notepad so that she could write up the information later for each person's file. She was pleased to interact with the baby; it had been a long while since she had been able to, and she had always loved children.

"You're a natural," Rick commented as Beth passed Judith back to him after weighing her and checking her eyesight and hearing.

"Thank you," Beth said with a genuine smile. "I've always loved children. There's plenty of them here - I'm sure you'll be really happy in Alexandria." Rick just nodded at her comment before standing up, his son copying him in a swift motion.

"I'm located at the clinic just on the other side of town, about a ten minute walk from here. But if you ever need me in an emergency, my house is literally just across the road. The one with the blue door."

Rick nodded and thanked her for checking his family over and Beth insisted that it was no problem before asking if he wouldn't mind sending the next person in. Rick assured her that he would and Beth waved goodbye to the family of three before turning around and tidying up behind her so that she was ready for her next visitor.

She had been pleasantly surprised at how friendly Rick had been with her to say that he was new in town. His son had been quiet and hesitant throughout the whole interaction with her, but Judith constantly smiling and laughing and Beth felt at ease around her. The relief that washed over her after her first appointment was more than apparent on her face; a happy smile warming her features, her blue eyes wide and bright.

Maybe today will be a good day, she thought.

"Hello," Beth breathed as she heard the door open and close very quickly. "My name's Beth, I'm the doctor here in..." She stopped mid-sentence as she turned around to see the man standing uncomfortably in the doorway. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and despite looking like he needed a good scrub down in a hot bath, he was undeniably attractive. "...Alexandria," she choked out.

He frowned at her through his shaggy brown hair, clearly confused at the breaking in her voice, but he didn't comment on it. She cleared her throat when he didn't say anything, mentally cursing herself for being so flustered. Beth couldn't help the fact that her attraction to him had caught her off guard - after all, it had been a long time since anyone had caught her eye.

_Focus_, she told herself. Beth straightened her waistcoat and made her way across the room and towards her chair.

"Please, sit down," she gestured towards the chair opposite her before she sat down herself. Beth tried her best not to make it obvious that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye as she flicked through her notepad and found a blank page, ready to write his name at the top as she had for the Grimes family.

He slowly made his way over to the chair and sat down carefully after what felt like minutes. She offered him a friendly smile that he didn't return.

"Can I take your name?"

"Daryl," he said.

"And your surname?" she asked as she began writing in her notepad.

"Dixon."

He didn't speak in the friendly manner that Rick had before him and he didn't seem to want to provide her with any information about his life. His voice was deep and scratchy and his eyes were a piercing blue; much lighter than hers, but harder and colder, too. She wrote down as much as he would offer her as she probed gently about his family history and any illnesses that he could think of, anything that he could possibly be allergic to or anything that would help if there was ever an emergency.

It was difficult to ease a conversation out of him and at times Beth felt like she was talking to herself. He tended to grunt and shrug and chew on his thumbs. He told her that he wasn't allergic to anything and there was nothing hereditary that he was worried about being passed down onto him. Beth's lips turned down as she glanced at the page of her notepad which had very little written on it compared to what she had written for the Grimes family.

Beth wondered if she would rather he was as friendly as Rick - maybe conversation would be slightly easier, but her cheeks were already burning a furious red every time she glanced up at him to ask him a question and she was already stuttering on her words without him really saying anything and her stomach was already doing flips and twists and turns and...

"We done here?"

Daryl's voice broke her out of her own wandering thoughts and she jumped slightly at the unexpected sound. She nodded her head furiously before closing her notepad and jumping to her feet to follow him to the door. He looked around the room once more before he opened the door in front of him.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr Dixon," she said in her most calm and collected voice. "Would you mind sending the next person in for me?" He nodded his head in response and left, wasting no time as he headed down the hall and towards the front door. Beth let out a shaky breath as he wandered away and she closed the door gently behind her.

She told herself that it was most definitely the lack of available males in Alexandria that had her so hot and bothered over a stranger. Beth hadn't had sweaty palms or a furious blush or a thundering heart in such a long time and she was sure that it was due to the fact that almost all of the men here were either married, widowed or far too young for her.

The sound of the door closing behind another patient shocked Beth and she jumped for the second time in the last few minutes. She let out a shaky breath before turning round to face the older woman with cropped graying hair and a slender frame who had made her way into the room, a small smile playing on her features.

"Hello, I'm Beth, Alexandria's doctor," Beth greeted. "Please, take a seat."


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I just wanted to say that I am more than open to suggestions for this story. Whilst I do have a basic plan in mind, I am more than happy to tweak them if anyone inspires me! I have a few ideas as to where this is going but I am open to suggestions and I'm more than willing to explore other ideas about where this story could take us.**

**I also wanted to point out that I am English and I can't help but spell things the way we spell them over here - for example, we use 's' instead of 'z' for a lot of words (realise, sympathise, socialise etc) and I also spell words with extra letters sometimes (behaviour instead of behavior). This was brought to my attention by autocorrect and I just wanted to point that out. I hope that if you do spell these words differently that it doesn't annoy you too much but there's just no way I could spell these any differently when it's what I've been taught all my life! **

**Anyway, enough about spelling. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

It was rare that Beth got a day off, but after the day that Deanna had delegated Eugene the job of being her assistant at the clinic, it seemed that it was only fair that they began working alternate days.

Eugene was polite enough. He was a larger fellow with a mullet that people tended to frown at, but Beth thought that it was interesting. He seemed nice, but there had been plenty of times in the last few days that he had made her feel uncomfortable with his staring and his compliments on her appearance. But all in all, he seemed harmless, so Beth didn't complain.

At first, Beth had insisted that she worked alongside him every day. After all, the clients were used to her and her ways, not his; and she wondered how they might behave if she wasn't there to remember how they liked everything and, more importantly, what they didn't like. Eugene's lack of medical training had also been off-putting for Beth, despite the fact that she reasoned with herself that she hadn't had any training, either.

But as much as she never wanted to judge a soul before knowing them, she still couldn't help but feel over-protective of the people she felt personally responsible for. Beth had been caring for the people of Alexandria for three years now and had seen them through all sorts of things and she didn't want to let them down by leaving them in the hands of someone who was less than capable of helping them.

Much to her relief, Eugene was picking everything up with ease. He had told her that he had been a science teacher before the outbreak and that he had considered going to medical school a long time ago. Eugene informed her that she was a good teacher and that's why he was doing as well as he was, but Beth thought that he was an intelligent man and that he would be able to do a lot of what he was doing now even if it was someone else teaching him. Beth was glad to have the help and although her new assistant was socially awkward and didn't seem to know how to speak to _her_ appropriately, he was polite to all of the patients who came to the clinic and he dealt with them all as best he could.

So when Eugene brought up the idea of working alternate days and only occasionally working together in order to give the other a well-deserved break, Beth agreed happily. She knew deep down that she was already over-worked; not only at the clinic, but also at home, and so she decided to forget about the clinic for what felt like the first time in forever and instead focused on her nephew and niece.

Beth couldn't help but sympathise with Ariella and Oliver. She was glad that through everything, they had each other. The bond they shared was intense, to say the least; and Beth couldn't help but be slightly envious of it. She was close to their mother but she knew that she would never be that close to her, and she often wondered to herself if anyone would ever understand her like the twins understood each other.

Or maybe that was just part of the beauty of having a twin.

Despite the calm and happy life they all lived in Alexandria, Beth knew deep down that the twins were unhappy with how things were. Jasmine had been depressed after she had realised that the father of her unborn children had passed away. Beth had hoped and prayed that once she gave birth she would change, but she sunk deeper into her depression and Beth had no choice but to take care of the twins alone. Jasmine even refused to feed them from her own breast, leaving Beth to scavenge for formula for not just one, but two hungry babies whose cries were loud enough to attract more than just one or two of the dead.

The twins loved their mother, and despite everything, Beth knew that Jasmine loved them too. Over time she had began to change her behaviour towards them and even played with them as they got older. But as they grew, Jasmine distanced herself from her son more than her daughter. The resemblance he had to his father was undeniable; not only in his appearance, but in his personality, too. Ariella possessed her father's qualities, too, but in much lesser amounts that did not have an overwhelmingly negative effect on her mother.

There were good days and bad days. On the bad days, Jasmine couldn't even bare to look at her own son, never mind talk to him. It broke Beth's heart to see the boy she considered to be her own family practically beg for his mother's attention and love only to be shot down on a regular basis. Whilst both of the twins had been neglected by their mother at times, nobody could deny that it was Oliver who got the worst of it and it was Oliver who acknowledged it more, too.

_"Why don't mama love me, Beth?" Oliver said as Beth scrubbed his arms. Her smile fell at his words, her mouth parting slightly in shock and her blue eyes widening dramatically._

_Beth knew that this day had been coming. She had tried warning Jasmine that her son would soon pick up on the fact that his mother never bathed him or fed him his dinner or dressed him or took him out to play. Jasmine sometimes did those things for Ariella, but never for Oliver, and Beth pleaded with her to see what she was doing to her child._

_But Jasmine was in denial about it all and no matter how many times Beth insisted that she needed to make more of an effort before her son started to realise what she was doing, Jasmine would never listen. Beth sympathised with her best friend and understood that she was still grieving for the man that she had loved with all of her heart, but Beth couldn't find it in her to excuse her behaviour towards her only son._

_"Your mother loves you very much," Beth said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Why would you say otherwise?"_

_The little boy shrugged his shoulders and continued to play with his bath toys, a sad expression on his usually carefree face. Beth's heart broke for him, it really did, and she wished more than anything that she could take away the pain he felt._

_"I wish you were my mama, Beth," Oliver said in a whispered voice that she could barely here. Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks, but Beth just rolled up her sleeves a little bit more and leaned over the tub so that she was closer to him._

_"You don't," Beth said. "I'm your aunt, and I love you very, very much, and I want you to always remember that. But your mother loves you too, and she always will. She loves you more than anything."_

_Oliver looked like he didn't believe a word she was saying, but he accepted it nonetheless and carried on playing with his bath toys as though nothing had happened._

_Beth picked up the sponge that she had dropped into the soapy warm water and began scrubbing his arms once again, washing away the dirt and grime and muck that he had covered himself in whilst playing outside with his sister and the other children of Alexandria. Beth wished that she could scrub away the hurt he felt at the rejection from his mother, but she accepted that the best she could do for him right now was to let him know that she cared about him and to sing him to sleep the way he wished that his own mother would._

"Beth!"

The sound of Oliver and Ariella calling out her name in unison brought a smile to her face and Beth spun around to see the twins rushing into the kitchen where she had been preparing a picnic for them all.

The children usually went to school during the day whilst Beth and Jasmine worked and then Beth would pick them up on her way home before they all had dinner together. Jasmine usually missed dinner, choosing instead to socialise with the others who had settled in Alexandria with them and had a tendency to come stumbling home during the later hours, long after the children had been tucked into bed by Beth.

But today, Beth had decided that she wouldn't send them to the school and would instead take them out so that they could all spend the day together. The weather was glorious and Beth was feeling more than positive about their day.

"Good morning," Beth said in a sing-song voice as the children rushed over to see what she was making. Beth picked up a brush that had found itself in the kitchen and began combing through Ariella's long light-brown tresses whilst Oliver rummaged through the fridge for something or other. "Don't start eating, Oliver, we're going on a picnic."

"A picnic?" Beth giggled at the excited tones of both of the children.

"Yes," she grinned. "A picnic." Once she had finished combing through Ariella's hair, she instructed them both to go and fetch their sunhats and shoes and to meet her on the porch. She packed the sandwiches and drinks that she had made inside her basket along with some fruit and some pieces of chocolate that she had been saving for them as a treat.

Beth met them out on the porch and was pleased to see that they were waiting patiently for her. That makes a change, she thought. Usually at least one of them was up to no good.

Well, usually Oliver was up to no good, with Ariella mostly standing guard for him. Ariella was nowhere near as daring as her brother, but she enjoyed watching as he got himself in all sorts of trouble.

"Are we ready?" Beth asked and laughed when the children nodded up at her, their light eyes shining with excitement. "Come on then," she instructed, and they followed her down the steps of the porch through the streets of Alexandria.

**xxxxx**

It was late in the evening when the trio decided to make their way home. Sometime during the day Oliver had found a ball to play with and had been practicing kicking it as hard as he could, despite Beth's scolding of his behaviour. Oliver tended to do as he pleased and left Beth chasing around after him, apologising to everyone who had suffered at the hands of his naughty behaviour. Today had been no different.

Ariella let out a squeal as her brother muttered something that sounded very much like 'Watch this' and Beth's ears immediately pricked up. She went into high-alert and stepped closer to the boy as he placed the ball on the floor. Beth was just about to open her mouth to tell him that whatever he was thinking about doing, not to do it; but she was too late.

He had been aiming to kick the ball over the house that they lived in, but his aim was far from perfect - actually, his aim and strong kick was still pretty impressive for a four year old, but Beth pushed that thought away as quickly as it came - and the ball went hurling towards the house where the newcomers lived. It landed on the porch of the house with a loud thud and bounced between the railings and the front door several times.

Beth winced and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath, hoping that nobody was in bed to be disturbed by her nephew's behaviour. She scolded him briefly before sending the twins inside their house along with the picnic basket. Beth made her way towards the house and went to pick up the ball from the porch and had been relieved that nobody seemed to be in until she heard the creaking of the front door opening behind her. Beth winced once more and turned around slowly, a sheepish grin on her face.

Her heart rate picked up at the sight of the attractive man who she had met just a few days before. She hadn't seen him since their very brief appointment and he looked a lot cleaner now. Beth noticed that he was wearing different clothes - a short sleeved white tee shirt that didn't have a single stain on it, a denim vest and a pair of dark jeans. He had shaved his facial hair and it was growing back as light stubble on his jaw and chin and his unruly hair had been trimmed somewhat. It made him look years younger.

"Hi," Beth said in a voice that didn't even sound like her own. She groaned inwardly. He probably thought she was so stupid. "Daryl, right?"

He nodded at her, his brows still furrowed in confusion, but his posture relaxed slightly as she spoke.

"I don't know if you remember, but I'm Beth," she continued, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she spoke.

"Yeah, I remember," he said, and she swore that she swooned. She was surprised that he remembered her and was undeniably pleased that he did.

Beth realised she was staring at him awkwardly after a few beats of silence passed between them. Her lips formed an 'o' as it came to her that he must have been extremely confused as to why she was stood on his porch with a ball in her hands in the middle of the evening when most people were inside eating their supper and getting ready for bed.

"Sorry to disturb you. My nephew... we had been out all day and he found this ball. He thought it would be a good idea to try and kick it so it hit our house - we live just there - and it ended up whacking onto your porch and hitting your door about a dozen times. I was hoping that nobody would be home because I didn't want to wake anyone - I mean, I know you guys have the baby here and I know how much of a nightmare they are at getting to sleep and getting them to rest - and then... here we are," Beth said. She let out a nervous laugh at the end of her rant and acknowledged that she must look even more stupid now that she had rambled about nonsense that he probably didn't care about at all.

But he surprised her by offering her half a smile and nodding his head softly in her direction. It wasn't much, but Beth took what she could get and let out a relieved sigh at his gesture.

"Thanks for being understanding. Some of the folks here aren't best pleased with the way Oliver is. He's difficult, but he's just a kid, he doesn't mean any harm. I've already spoke to him about it and I'll do my best to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"S'alright," he spoke, and Beth was relieved to hear him actually say something. The sound of his voice made her stomach do back flips and she couldn't stop herself from fidgeting with the ball in her hands.

"Well, I'm sorry anyway. Like I said, I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again." With that, she offered him one final gentle smile before heading away from the porch and making her way back to her home.

Beth let out a breath that she hadn't even realised she had been holding once she stepped in front of her door and groaned to herself before letting out a chuckle that made her body vibrate. She bit her lip and looked down at the ball in her hands before letting it drop and roll to the other side of the porch. Placing her hand on the doorknob, she glanced over her shoulder to look at the house across the road once more before she walked inside.

She was surprised to see Daryl still stood there on the porch, his arms crossed and his gaze focusing right on her. Beth gave him a little wave that he responded to with a slight nod of his head and she couldn't help but smile as she pushed open the door and slipped into the house.

Ariella was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, a confused look on her little face.

"Beth, is that one of the new people?" Ariella questioned. Beth stepped towards her and began running her fingers through her hair and tying it into a plait.

"Yes, he is," Beth said with a smile.

"Have you met them all?"

Beth nodded her head in response, pulling her hair tie out of her own hair and releasing it so that it fell down her shoulders. She wrapped the tie around her wrist to use once she had finished with Ariella's hair.

"They're good people. Maybe you can say hello to them if you see them one day. Introduce yourself," Beth suggested. Ariella nodded again before letting out a yawn.

"OK, Beth," Ariella said as Beth finished off braiding her hair.

"Go to bed," Beth whispered to her before placing a kiss on her hairline. Ariella did as she was told and made her way up the stairs, leaving Beth to hover in the hallway for a moment before making her way to the kitchen.

That night, Beth found herself drifting into sleep with a soft smile on her face. Her dreams were filled with light blue eyes and a rough voice that told her they remembered her and she couldn't help but feel at ease.


	4. Chapter 4

In the past week alone, a lot had changed in Alexandria. Beth was slowly getting used to working alternate days and was glad to be spending quality time with her nephew and niece. But they were starting to go back to school again on her days off and she was now adjusting to spending time to herself.

The group of newcomers had decided that they were going to stay in Alexandria and were settling in quite well. They had all been given jobs by Deanna and Beth had met the majority of them. They all seemed friendly enough and she had been sad to hear that one of them, a young man called Noah, had died whilst outside of the walls just a few days before. It had happened whilst she was at work and Eugene had come in just as she was preparing to close the clinic for the night to tell her about everything that had happened.

Beth was getting along with Eugene a lot better now that he seemed to have had his head turned by none other than Jasmine. The first time he had spotted her waving through the window of the clinic on a day when they were both working together, he had hounded Beth about her - who she was, where she lived, how they knew each other, what she was interested in.

Beth knew that Jasmine wasn't going to be interested in Eugene - not because of his appearance or his awkward personality, but because she had never gotten over the death of her children's father all those years ago and Beth was sure she would love him until the day she died herself. They had never been together; not really, and they had never discussed being in a relationship or being parents to their children. He had been a free spirit and although he knew of her pregnancy, he hadn't played much of an active part in it before his death.

Selfish as it was, Beth was more than happy for Eugene to ogle Jasmine at every possible opportunity if it meant that he had backed off from her.

The group had been designated to new houses so that they weren't all left together, and most of them lived alone in the smaller houses that were on offer in Alexandria. The Grimes' lived in a bigger house with a lady called Michonne who was an officer with Rick and together they patrolled Alexandria and kept trouble at bay. Not that many problems came up within the town - not that Beth knew of, anyway - but she supposed that trouble could be brewing behind many closed doors and it was better to be safe than sorry.

Beth never really saw or heard much from Daryl, but she had bumped into him twice in the past week. Both encounters were short and sweet and he didn't say much to her, but he didn't completely ignore her, either. Beth thought that that surely counted for something, at least. She had heard that he had joined the team of recruiters that went out searching for new people to live in Alexandria, and she supposed that was why she never really saw him around much.

There was a girl called Maggie who must have been a few years older than Beth who lived with her husband. Maggie worked with Deanna, but Beth didn't take much interest in what happened there. She had an appointment with Maggie that morning at the clinic and she supposed that she might find out more about the woman during their session together.

Beth struggled to remember the other people who had come to live in Alexandria. She could picture Tara, Carol and Sasha in her mind; although she couldn't for the life of her remember what jobs they had been given. She knew that there was a man who was tall and stocky with bright red hair and a mustache to match and a girl who hung around him an awful lot, but she wasn't sure of either of their names.

Jasmine had been filling her in about all the newcomers as her job was to ensure that rotas were set up to manage what all of the people in town were working and when. Beth had taken little interest in the topic until she had heard Jasmine ranting on about a certain Mr Dixon and how his surly attitude was getting under her skin.

Beth tried not to make it obvious that she had suddenly started listening properly, but Jasmine saw right through her.

_"Please tell me you are not even thinking about it," Jasmine said with a laugh, her brown eyes dancing with excitement. She had always loved to tease Beth._

_Beth tried her hardest to look confused, but she feared that it wasn't working. She had to act, and fast._

_"Thinking about what?"_

_Jasmine snorted loudly at that and Beth wanted to throw her face in her hands and rush back upstairs, abandoning her cereal in the process. But she didn't - she was a grown woman now, not a child. _

_"You are so obvious. You like him!"_

_"I don't even know him," Beth countered as quickly as she could. She snapped her mouth shut, her lips in a firm straight line, but Jasmine just smirked back across the table at her playfully._

_"You'd like to get to know him though, right?" Jasmine probed. Beth rolled her eyes. "He's a lost cause, I swear. You're better off leaving him be."_

_Beth didn't want to argue with her best friend so she just nodded her head in response before taking another bite of her breakfast. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. She was embarrassed enough about her silly crush on the man who had barely spoken five words to her since he arrived - she didn't need Jasmine rubbing it in more._

_"What did you have to speak to him about in your appointment?" Jasmine said. Beth shrugged her shoulders in response._

_"A few things, I guess. Just the standard stuff; allergies, family medical history, anything important we need to know if we ever have to treat him in an emergency. Just the same stuff we have to ask everyone."_

_"Did he say much?"_

_Beth frowned up at Jasmine, confused by her sudden interest. _

_"No, not really," Beth said with a sigh. "Not that I'd be allowed to tell you, anyway. Patient confidentiality and all that jazz."_

_"You still singing that old tune, huh?" Jasmine said with a smirk._

_"Why are you so interested, anyway?" Beth countered, narrowing her blue eyes in curiosity. Jasmine took a long gulp of her drink before pushing out her chair and taking her used dishes over to the sink and began to quickly wash them before she left for work._

_"No reason," she said. _

_Beth finished her breakfast in silence, trying her hardest to push away all thoughts of the gruff man away._

**xxxxx**

Beth had finished off her appointment with one of Alexandria's older men who was just a bit of a hypochondriac and was on her way to go and let Maggie know that she was ready for her.

"Mrs Rhee?" she called out into the waiting room, smiling as she saw the young woman stand up and make her way towards her. She was undeniably beautiful; much taller than Beth with auburn hair that had probably been cut in a pixie bob a while before, but now it was growing past her shoulders stubbornly. She had wild green eyes and a strong jawline.

Smiling softly as she greeted her, Beth led the way down the corridor and into her office. Maggie looked around tentatively before taking a seat across from Beth.

"So, what can I do for you today?"

It was how Beth always started her appointments with patients and Maggie didn't hesitate to answer.

"Well," she began. "I've been thinkin' that I've been married to my husband for some time now, and we've seen how well everything is here... how comfortable people are here, ya know? And we were thinkin' about maybe tryin' for our own?"

The way Maggie finished was more like a question as opposed to a statement, her green eyes bright with hope yet filled with uncertainty as she explored Beth's facial expression to gauge a response. Beth smiled calmly back at her.

"OK," Beth said simply. "And can I ask what you were hoping I could help you with about this? I can't offer you much advice when it comes to you personally, but I can do my best to give you as much impartial medical advice as I can."

Not one hundred percent confident as to whether Maggie wanted to have Beth's approval and support of her trying, Beth tried her hardest to remain professional. It wasn't for her to say whether someone should or shouldn't try to have children.

"Well, I was hoping for some advice about whether it would be possible. And how safe it would be. I've seen a few children runnin' round here, and I know we have Judith, but her mother..." she paused with a gulp, her hands tightening slightly on her knees. She dipped her head before looking back up to meet Beth's eyes. "Well, I had to deliver her, and her mother didn't make it. I don't wanna risk it unless we think it can be done safely."

"I can't promise you anything," Beth began as she stood up and made her way towards the bookcase that was next to the large window looking out onto the green grass fields. She rummaged through a few books before finding the one she wanted and handing it over to Maggie who took it with thanks.

"What I can do is provide you with as much information about pregnancy and giving birth as I can. I have delivered a few babies myself, and the children and their mothers have all made it out alive. That's not to say that there aren't complications involved and that it isn't a long and difficult process. It also isn't to say that just because they made it, that you will."

Beth paused for a moment and watched as Maggie flicked through the pages of the book, taking in everything Beth was saying.

"But at the same time, I don't want to put you off too much. It's not my place to tell you what you can and can't do, that's entirely up to you. I can say that if you do decide to go through with trying for a baby and do fall pregnant that I will do everything I can to assist you and your baby and make sure you're both happy and healthy. Pregnancy was difficult before the outbreak, never mind now. But we do have to resources here to help you during pregnancy and the birthing process and like I said, I have personally delivered several babies during my time."

Maggie nodded and asked a few more questions that Beth tried her hardest to answer honestly and professionally. At the end of the appointment, Maggie seemed much more relaxed and calm.

"Thank you for seeing to me," she said as she opened the door to leave, offering Beth a genuine smile. Beth returned the gesture and waved slightly as Maggie left.

Closing the door behind her, Beth let out a little sigh. According to the clock handing on her office wall, it was only quarter past eleven. Not for the first time in her life, Beth thought to herself that today was going to be a very long day.


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I wanted to get these two to _finally_ spend some time together. ****As mentioned in previous chapters, they have bumped into each other a few times now, so they are familiar with each other. But their interactions have been very brief and limited, so whilst they do know of each other, they're hardly friends or acquaintances at the moment.**

**Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

True to Beth's earlier thoughts, it had indeed been a long day. She had not seen any more patients than usual, but she couldn't help but feel extremely exhausted. Despite wanting to go home as soon as she had her last appointment for the evening, Beth stayed behind and caught up on some much needed reading.

Beth's appointment with Maggie Rhee had caused her to think about how she didn't know much herself about the birthing process and about what women needed during pregnancy and labor. Being a woman herself, she had been subjected to horror stories about many births during her life, but she had never really considered it from a medical point of view. Although she had delivered several babies, including the twins, she had mostly been running on adrenaline at the times and had been following her instincts as opposed to what books told her.

After she felt much more comfortable with the idea of pregnancy and what to do when a woman was giving birth, Beth packed her things away and headed out of the clinic. Her stomach was rumbling loudly as she had forgotten to pack herself any dinner, but she did her best to ignore it. She had already eaten two meals that day and it was more than she had been used to just a few years ago and so she never took anything for granted. Although Beth was comfortable in Alexandria, she tried not to indulge too much in the lifestyle that they had here in case it ever did disappear. She wasn't sure she could deal with losing everything she ever loved all over again.

_"Beth, you have to go," a feminine voice called out to her. Beth shook her head no as tears poured down her face._

_"Please, Beth, you need to leave. It's not safe."_

_"I can't," Beth choked as she looked her mother straight in the eyes. "I can't go. I can't do it on my own." _

_It was then that she noticed the blood. Goodness, there was just so much blood. She couldn't cope with the sight of it pouring out of her mother's arm and staining her white dress._

_"Beth, you know if you don't leave then I might hurt you. I don't want to do that. You need to go now. Your father will take care of me." _

_Knowing full well what that entailed, Beth let out a long wail as she cried harder. She rushed to her mother and flew her arms around her neck, clinging on tightly. Her mother tried to calm her down._

_"You have to be strong, Bethy," her soft voice whispered. "You have to be so strong. You need to leave before something happens to you, too. Run as far as you can and don't come back. I don't want you to see me like that. Do you understand me?"_

_Beth nodded before pushing herself away from her mother's embrace._

_"I'm going to miss you so much, Mama," Beth sobbed. Beth's mother smiled at her softly, wiping away a few of her tears. Beth cried harder into her mother's hands._

_"Don't cry, Beth. You know I'll always be with you, in here." Beth felt her mother press her palm softly against her chest where her heart was beating strongly. Beth fought back another sob before looking up into her mother's crystal blue eyes. It was almost like looking in a mirror. "Don't forget me, Bethy. I love you so much."_

_"I love you, too," Beth whispered before she rushed away to gather her things. When she returned downstairs into the kitchen, her father was blocking the door. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes._

_"Run, Bethy," he said. "You have to run. You have to go somewhere safe."_

_Beth nodded her head and did as she was told. She ran and ran until the farm house was no longer in sight and her legs began to burn. Beth collapsed onto the grass and paused to catch her breath. She had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. _

_All she knew was that she was now completely alone._

An unfamiliar rumbling sound caught Beth's attention and she jumped in fright as something whizzed by her, gasping as her hair whipped around her face at the force of it. Her light blue knee-length skirt flew up slightly, but she placed her hands down so it didn't reveal too much to anyone who happened to be glancing her way.

She had been so caught up in her own memories that she hadn't noticed anyone around her. As she brushed the hair away from her eyes, she didn't notice the person who was making their way over to her now, either. It was only when she heard that raspy low voice that danced in the back of her mind that her attention turned back to the person stood in front of her.

The first thing she noticed was that he was smirking. Only slightly, but she had come to realise that she really had to pay attention to see his physical responses to her whenever they interacted (albeit only briefly) otherwise she would miss them. She grinned up at him, suddenly feeling quite breathless and taken aback.

"Thinkin' I nearly ran ya over just then," he drawled, his eyes never leaving hers. She nodded her head quickly, feeling like an absolute idiot, but she was so surprised to have him suddenly stood in front of her, actually talking to her out of his own choice, that she was at a complete loss for words.

He chuckled at her red face. It was an unfamiliar sound, but not unpleasant, and she couldn't help but laugh a little, too. She must have looked ridiculous.

"Yeah," she said, her voice a little shaky. "It's probably my fault, though. Everyone's always sayin' I'm in my own head too much. Should probably pay more attention to what's going on around me."

Daryl nodded at that and she briefly wondered if he was going to turn around and walk back to his bike, but he didn't. He stood on the spot firmly, looking around them for a moment as he ran his tongue over his chapped lips. Beth watched him carefully as he took in their surroundings.

"What are ya doin' out so late?" His question took Beth off guard. She wasn't sure of the time, but she hadn't thought it was that late until that moment. Beth looked around her quickly and realised that it was incredibly dark outside, meaning it must have been long past Oliver and Ariella's bedtime.

She briefly wondered whether Jasmine would have been home to tuck them into bed or whether she was still out, maybe even staying at one of her friends houses.

"I just got out of work," she said. He frowned at that.

"Aren't ya the doctor?" he asked. She nodded. "And you work this late?"

Beth just shrugged her shoulders in response. He actually looked interested.

"I guess so. Sometimes. I don't just do appointments, I do a lot of reading, too. And I have to write up all my paperwork and file everything away. Deanna has given me Eugene to help out, but we're still pretty busy." She paused for a moment and took in his expression.

He seemed to be listening attentively so she assumed he must still be intrigued. Beth was surprised she wasn't boring him like she tended to bore the other people who lived in town whenever she talked about work.

"I used to stay there sometimes," she told him. "But me and Eugene do alternate shifts now so there's not really much point. I didn't realise how late it was..."

"Alright," he said, dipping his head slightly before looking to the floor. "Want me to walk you home?"

Beth's blue eyes widened at his question, her heart skipping excitedly. She couldn't believe her ears. Had he - Daryl Dixon - really just offered to walk her home? She had to be imagining it. He was grumpy and quiet and reserved and he had absolutely no interest in talking to anyone who wasn't a part of his group.

"You don't have to do that," she said with a polite smile, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. He shook his head and looked her straight in the eye for a moment.

"Nah, I do," Daryl said. There was something in his tone that threw Beth off guard. He wasn't bored or irritated, but he didn't sound overly enthused, either. She decided not to argue against it anymore - after all, she wasn't going to actively turn him down when in truth, she wanted nothing more than to walk alongside him all the way back home.

"Do you remember where I live?" she asked as she followed him as he walked over towards his motorcycle. He nodded at her in answer to her question as he grabbed the bike by the handlebars and started walking with it. She had to hurry to catch up to his big strides, and when Daryl realised how much she was struggling to stay by his side, he began to walk at a slower pace. Beth smiled up at him appreciatively.

"Do you still live close?" she asked. He nodded once more. "That's nice to know. I didn't realise we were still neighbours. I haven't seen you around for a while now."

"Not been around much," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Been out, recruitin'. Lookin' for new folk."

Beth pretended she didn't know that he had been delegated a job and asked him a few questions about it - who he worked with, how he came about it, what it was like outside the walls. He seemed to open up a bit more whilst they talked about work, and Beth was glad that their conversation wasn't just one sided. Daryl had even asked her if she had been outside of the walls.

She laughed in response, telling him that she had come to Alexandria three years ago and that she had spent quite some time out in the open among the dead. He laughed a little, too, and she explained to him briefly about her living situation. Daryl didn't tell her much about his, but she already knew that he was living alone, so she didn't ask him much about it.

When they reached her house, Beth was disappointed that their walk was over. She wondered if he was disappointed, too; but if he was, he didn't give anything away to show it.

They stopped outside the house and Beth looked up and him, a gently smile playing on her lips. He didn't look down at her until she spoke.

"So where are you living now?" Daryl pointed down the street to a light brown house. Beth committed it to memory, nodding her head before she looked back up at him. "You'll have to come round for dinner sometime. You're welcome whenever. And I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty decent cook."

He looked at her in disbelief for a moment, his brows furrowed and his lips slightly parted. After a moment of looking at her like that, he visibly relaxed and smiled at her, mumbling something that she couldn't quite make out. Beth took his response to be a 'yes, I'd love to,' and she beamed up at him.

Beth turned her head slightly and looked at the house waiting behind her. All of the lights were switched off and Beth wondered what time the children had put themselves to bed. She felt slightly guilty for staying at work so late, but she had completely lost track of the time. Beth turned back around to face him after she let out a small sigh.

"Thank you for walking me, Daryl," she said softly. He nodded his head at her.

"Ain't nothin'," he told her. She smiled at that before taking a step towards him and pushing herself up on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. He froze at the contact, clearly unsure of what to do. Beth bounced back onto the flats of her feet before looking up at him with a smile, suppressing a giggle at his expression.

He looked so shocked and she was quite proud of herself that she had managed to get such a reaction out of him. Daryl shrugged it off quickly though, clearing his throat and looking back at his house. Beth smiled at him once more before making her way up the steps of the porch.

"Goodnight, Daryl," Beth called in a sing-song voice.

"G'dnight, Beth," he said after her. She closed the door as quietly as she could before watching him tow his bike away out of the peephole.

Once she could no longer see him, she let out a happy sigh and slid her frame down the door until she was sat at the bottom of it. Beth let out a little giggle before placing her hands over her mouth, covering up the girlish grin that was creeping onto her features.

She hadn't been excited over a boy - no, a man, she corrected herself - in years. She felt like a thirteen year old girl again, butterflies and all.

But Beth was not going to complain about it. She was actually happy and excited and optimistic about the whole thing. Even if he didn't feel the same way about her, the way her stomach clenched when he offered her a little smile made her feel so alive in a way she hadn't for quite some time.

Beth hummed a pleasant tune to herself as she brushed her hair at her vanity table and got changed into her pajamas. She switched off the light and collapsed into her bed, and that night wasn't the first night that she dreamt of Daryl Dixon.


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**This is a bit of a shorter chapter. I was going to have this chapter and the next all as one, but it seemed a little long winded, so I've put them up as two separate ones. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Since Daryl had walked her home a few nights ago, Beth had constantly been in a pleasant mood. Eugene had asked her to cover his shift so that he could go out on a run with Tara, and in return he would work the next two days so that she could have two days off, too. She was more than eager to accept his offer.

Beth still remembered a time when she worked almost every single day every single week without much rest in between and she was more than grateful for the help that Eugene provided, so it didn't bother her that she had to work two days in a row.

Besides, it meant that she got two days off in a row. She couldn't even recall the last time that happened.

So for the first morning in a long time, she slept in. Beth had already organised for Jess, one of the women in Alexandria who had a son a little older than Oliver and Ariella, to come and pick the twins up on her way to walking her own son, Sam, to the school. Beth had learnt that Carol, one of the women from Daryl's group, was now teaching there, too. She had only met her once but she seemed nice enough and Oliver and Ariella talked about her a lot.

Although Beth wasn't exactly good friends with anybody in Alexandria, she had met Jess on several occasions and the woman seemed pleasant enough. Beth had been a bit nervous about asking her for a favour, but she was more than understanding and insisted that Beth let herself have a break.

When Beth finally awoke, she already had a smile on her face. She made her way over to her curtains, sleeping brushing a hand through her hair and humming a gentle tune as she did so. Beth flung them open effortlessly and made her way out onto the balcony. A pleasant breeze hit her as she stepped out into the bright sunshine and she couldn't help but grin.

Beth took her time relaxing on the balcony for a short while before she made her way over to the vanity table. She combed through her hair as quickly as she could and let it fall down her back according to its own will. Beth knew she needed to cut the ends off desperately but she never seemed to find the time. Perhaps now she was working less, she would be able to manage it.

Deciding that she wasn't going to bother applying any make up that day, Beth stood up and made her way downstairs. She poured herself a glass of juice before heading into the living room. It felt like she hadn't set foot in the room for at least weeks. Beth made a beeline for the piano and cracked her fingers before she jumped right into playing it.

It had been such a long time since Beth had embraced her love of music, and although she couldn't quite stop herself from humming or singing every now and then, she knew that she had to make more of an effort when it came to playing the piano. It had been such a long time and she had missed it so much. Perhaps if she spent even ten minutes a day playing songs she knew or songs she was making up as she went along, she would be much more relaxed.

Playing the piano always cleared her mind and allowed her to just connect with her inner feelings and thoughts. It was a powerful instrument that created the most beautiful sounds and Beth couldn't help but feel so free and wild as she tapped against the keys.

A rattling on the front door startled her and she abruptly stopped playing. Curious as to who would be visiting during the middle of the afternoon, she frowned down at her attire. She had gone to bed wearing an over sized football tee shirt that belonged to a team she didn't even recognise and nothing else. She bit her lip and debated rushing upstairs to change before thinking better of it.

After all, it came at least halfway down her thighs and was longer than some of the dresses and skirts that Jasmine owned.

Beth pulled the door open and was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl stood on her porch. He looked equally surprised to see her standing there, although she knew he obviously couldn't be - he had knocked on her front door, after all.

"Hi," Beth said as she glanced over his appearance. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a dark tee shirt that had the sleeves cut off along with that vest he always seemed to wear. A genuine grin spread across her face and Beth instantly felt her mood soar just by looking at him.

She swore she saw Daryl blush as he took in her own appearance. She bit her lip apprehensively, worried he might think a bit less of her for lazily lounging around the house still in her pajamas during the middle of the afternoon. Beth told him that she didn't always dress like this, that she was usually out and about working; but Eugene had given her two days off in a row and Jess had insisted that she would take her nephew and niece to school that morning so that she could have a relaxing day.

"Was just comin' round to see if you wanted to do anythin' for dinner," Daryl said, catching her off guard. For the second time in as many minutes, Beth was pleasantly surprised by his confident attitude.

After all, Daryl had hardly been easy to talk to at first. After their walk home a few nights ago she had been hoping that things would shift between them, but she hadn't been expecting him to be so sudden about it. Despite his gruff exterior, he seemed almost shy and unsure, and Beth was shocked to say the least that he had taken things into his own hands.

His face fell slightly as she just stood there staring at him, and she began to panic as he started backing away.

"Sorry," he grumbled, looking down at the floor. "Was a stupid idea anyway. Aaron said -"

"No," Beth interrupted, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I'm still half asleep. I told you everyone thinks I'm crazy, constantly wrapped in my own thoughts," Beth laughed sheepishly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear nervously. She looked up at him, blue eyes shining hopefully. "I'd love to do something for dinner. Tonight?"

Beth bit her lip as she waited for his response. He only nodded his head.

"Perfect," she whispered. "Would you like to come over here and I could cook us up something?"

Daryl accepted her invitation and she smiled happily. "Great. Well why don't you come by around seven? I'll have the kids bathed and ready for bed for when you get here so they don't overwhelm you."

"Nah, I don't mind," he said, smiling gently at her. "Don't make 'em go bed early or anythin' on my account."

"Alright," she replied, glad that he seemed to be comfortable with the idea of Oliver and Ariella being around. Beth wasn't their mother and everyone knew that, but she could admit even if just to herself that she did a lot in terms of taking care of them, and sometimes people did mistake her as being their mother. She didn't always mind, but she did correct them when they were wrong. After all, whether Jasmine wanted to be there or not, she would always be their mother and Beth knew that she loved them deep down. She was just struggling and needed help.

"Well, I'll see you around seven. They usually go to bed at around eight o'clock, so we can eat afterwards."

"Sure," Daryl said, a little smile playing on his lips. Beth offered him a grin of her own before waving goodbye as he strolled down the porch steps and back towards his house.

Beth bit her lip in an attempt to hold back the toothy smile that was forcing its way upon her face, but there was no way she could hold it back.

Daryl Dixon had just asked her out on a date.


	7. Chapter 7

Beth applied the last of her lip gloss and looked herself over again in the mirror. Ariella and Oliver sat on the end of her bed, watching as she brushed a comb through her recently straightened hair for what must have been the tenth time within the hour. Beth was singing a happy song and made eye contact with both of the twins in the mirror.

"How do I look?" she asked them as she stood up and twirled round. They both looked at her with wide blue eyes. Ariella was smiling up at her whilst Oliver scowled.

Ariella was the first to speak up.

"You look beautiful, Beth," she said in her high pitched voice. Beth let out a little giggle as she twirled round again. "Like a princess."

Beth felt like a princess, too. She had spent what felt like hours taming her hair so that it ran down her back in straight lines instead of bouncy curls. She had put on a generous amount of make up - definitely not over doing it, but using the bits she had been saving for special occasions.

Beth had taken a particularly long time decorating her eyelids with soft brown and yellow glittery eye shadows that she hoped made her blue iris' stand out and she had applied eyeliner and mascara that she had dug out of Jasmine's drawer.

She had found a gorgeous light yellow dress that was fitted tightly around her slender waist and puffed out slight at the hips. It fell to just above her knee and the material was smooth and soft under her hands. Beth hoped that Daryl liked her appearance and had thought she looked alright until Oliver had scowled up at her in a manner that she wasn't used to.

"Don't you like it, Oliver?" Beth asked tentatively. Oliver shrugged his shoulders which caused Ariella to elbow him in the ribs, a stern look on the little girls face.

Beth couldn't help but feel disappointed at her nephew's silence. Had she over done it? Was Daryl not going to like it?

"You look different, aunty Beth," Oliver finally said. Beth let out a little sigh.

"I just wanted to look pretty for my date, Oli," she breathed, frowning at herself in the mirror. She was certain that it was too late to find something else now. Beth had set her heart on this dress for her date and wasn't sure that anything else could match up to her expectations.

"You do look pretty," Oliver said. "You just look different. Not like Beth."

Beth bit her lip at his words and decided he was probably right. Her face was completely different - it had been such a long time since she wore make up and she hardly remembered how to apply it.

Was she trying too hard?

"No, Beth," Ariella said, speaking louder than her brother had. "You look beautiful."

Beth smiled at that and turned away from the mirror to face the twins.

"Well, it's too late to change now," Beth said with a sigh. "Come on. Let's get downstairs before he gets here. And remember - best behaviour, please."

Her words were wasted on the children who ran down the stairs, giggling as they rushed off. Beth followed behind them and tried her best to keep up but they were so fast to say that their legs were so small. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a knock at the front door and her heart immediately leapt in her chest.

Beth tried to act casual as she opened the front door and peeked her head around to see Daryl before pushing the door open all the way. For once, he wasn't wearing his vest. Instead he was wearing a red and blue checkered shirt and a pair of black jeans. Beth noticed that he had trimmed his facial hair and she fought the urge to reach out and press her palm against it.

"Hi," Beth smiled nervously, biting her lip as his blue eyes roamed her attire. She gulped nervously before offering him a gentle smile that he returned after a moment of staring.

"Err - I - hi," he said. Beth giggled slightly at his flustering and motioned with her head for him to come in. He walked in front of her and gazed around the house for a moment before turning back to face her.

"Beth," he said in a tone she didn't recognise from him. "You look... you look good." Beth grinned at that.

Small as his compliment may be, he may as well have told her that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon. Beth had realised when she met him several weeks ago that he wasn't a man of many words, but the words he did say seemed to count. Him telling her that she looked good was more than enough to bring a huge smile to her face.

"Thank you," she said. "You look good, too. I'm shocked, though," she said, her face straightening in mock-seriousness. "I thought that vest was attached to your arms." He chuckled a little at that and Beth grinned at him again, desperate to hear that sound again.

Beth grabbed his hand and led the way into the lounge where Oliver and Ariella were sat in front of the television. She introduced the children to Daryl, who offered them a nod of the head. Oliver squinted at him and let his eyes roam over his appearance, the little boy seeming to size up the man who was standing close behind his aunt, whilst Ariella offered him a dazzling smile.

"Hello, Mr Dixon," Ariella chimed, waving politely at him. "Aunty Beth has been getting ready for your date for ages."

Beth blushed at that and let out a nervous laugh, her eyes widening in warning to the child. She had wanted to play it cool, but it seemed that her act was already out of the window before it had even begun.

"Is that right?" Daryl asked with a little laugh of his own, stepping slightly closer to Ariella and looking across at Beth. Beth just shrugged her shoulders and looked at him innocently, a little smile dancing on her lips.

"Yep," Ariella said, popping the 'p'. She sat up from where her and Oliver had been in front of the television and made her way over to the grown man in front of her. Ariella didn't even reach his waist but she came up to him and took his large palm in hers, dragging him over to one of the couches.

Ariella wasted no time in chatting with him about a new card trick she had learnt at school and asked him if he wanted to see, and got far too excited when he nodded his head yes. Beth fought the urge to roll her eyes in mock annoyance; she had seen that card trick at least one hundred times and she had a feeling that Daryl was going to see it just as much as she had, too.

"I'll fetch us something to drink," she said, looking in his direction. Beth felt her stomach clench slightly as his light eyes met hers from where he was sitting. "Is homemade lemonade alright?" He nodded at her and she left for the kitchen, asking Oliver to help her prepare the drinks.

"What do you think of him?" Beth asked as she poured the lemonade into four glasses. Oliver shrugged his shoulders at his aunt, mumbling that he seemed alright. Beth held back a laugh at her nephew's words. She had to remember that he was technically the man of the house and she wasn't sure how he would react to someone swooping in to date his aunt. He had taken the news rather well and whilst he had never been as open and confident around strangers as Ariella, he soon warmed up to the older man who had been welcomed into his home.

The hour passed by quickly and Beth almost felt bad sending the children to bed once it got past eight o'clock, but she was more than excited to spend some alone time with Daryl and remembering that made her guilt slip away easily. The twins protested loudly and whined a little, asking to stay up just a little bit longer, but Beth was firm and told them that if they went to bed nicely, she was sure Mr Dixon would come round to play with them soon.

The children accepted that end of the bargain and waved goodnight to Daryl before each placing a kiss on Beth's cheek. She ruffled their hair before sending them upstairs. Beth watched them walk up and waited until she heard their doors click shut before turning round and offering Daryl a smile.

"You're so good with them," she commented, watching as he dipped his head bashfully. "Really. You're a natural. They loved you." He shrugged his shoulders at her compliment and Beth didn't say anything more on the matter, instead choosing to invite him into the dining room and got him to sit at the table whilst she pulled the pasta she had spent most of the day making out of the oven.

"I hope you like pasta and garlic bread," she said as she cut it in half and plated it up. "I made it myself. I used the last of the garlic, so the bread might not taste quite as good as it usually does..." Beth made her way over to the table and placed his food in front of him before setting her own next to him. He was placed at the end of the table and instead of choosing to sit across from him, Beth had put her plate down on the space to his left.

"Would you like anything stronger to drink, or is lemonade alright? I think Jasmine has some wine or beer somewhere around here..."

"S'alright," he said. "Lemonade's fine. You make it yourself?"

Beth nodded as she poured them both another glass of lemonade.

"Make almost everything myself. It's not like we have the choice of frozen or fast food anymore, but I still love cooking fresh things for the kids. I bake my own bread and cakes, too, when I get the rations for ingredients."

As always, Daryl seemed genuinely interested in everything she was saying, and it only encouraged her to talk more. Beth easily felt comfortable around him and she was pleased that he had come round that evening.

"You know," Beth said as they ate. "You never did tell me what Aaron said."

"Huh?" he questioned, mouth full of pasta. She laughed lightly at his lack of table manners.

"This afternoon. You mentioned something about Aaron. What were you going to say he said?"

"Oh," he murmured, shoving some more food into his mouth. "Mmm..." he paused, looking down at the plate of food before glancing back up at Beth. "Can't really remember, now."

"Is that right?" Beth said, mimicking his words to Ariella, causing him to smile at the memory. She laughed again. "I'll get it out of you one day, Dixon," she said confidently.

"Is that right?" he repeated. Beth couldn't stop herself from grinning at the handsome man beside her.

_How on earth did we manage to get here? _she thought.

**xxxxxx**

"So," Beth asked when he had finished his meal. "How was it?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders at her.

"It was alright," he said, gulping down some lemonade. Beth couldn't help it as her face fell at his words. She knew deep down that he didn't mean to be cruel or offensive, but she couldn't help but be hurt at his dismissal of her cooking. Beth wasn't sure what she expected, really - it wasn't like he was going to suddenly change his mannerisms and tell her it was the most amazing meal anyone had ever made him. He was a private person and she knew it.

Still, it didn't mean that it didn't sting a little.

"Shit," he cursed, shaking his head. "Nah, Beth. It was real nice. A lot better than alright, an' you know it."

Beth smiled softly at him but she couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment away. She stood up and collected the plates before placing them in the sink. Beth was about to invite him into the lounge with her when he surprised her by standing up and walking towards her at the sink.

When she wiped her hands dry with the dishcloth, Beth turned around to face him. Her eyes met his and she noted the pained expression that danced across his features.

"'M sorry, Beth," he said with a sigh. Beth furrowed her brows at him in confusion, waiting for him to continue. "I'm no good with words. Dinner was real nice. Thank ya for making it for me."

Beth gave him a genuine smile and took a step closer to him, bravely placing the palm of her hand against his cheek. She had no idea where her surge of confidence came from and she shocked herself even more when she stepped up on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss against his face. Her kiss lingered a little bit, her lips dangerously close to his mouth, and she savored the feel of his rough stubble against her soft palm and lips.

Pushing herself away from him slightly, she invited him into the living room where she suggested they could watch a film together. Daryl agreed and plopped down into the couch as she got the movie ready. It was an old comedy that she had seen at least ten times over and missed the first few minutes of it whilst she gathered some snacks together from the kitchen and placed them on the coffee table in front of them.

Beth drew in the curtains and turned off the lamps so that the room was in darkness apart from the television and she sat herself next to Daryl on the couch. Beth didn't put much distance between them and Daryl shifted uncomfortably at her close proximity at first, but after a short while he relaxed a little and leaned back into the couch.

Unsure of where all of her boldness was coming from that evening, Beth allowed her hand to inch closer to his until their fingers were interlocked. She saw him give her a questioning look out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored it and pretended that everything was absolutely normal. After a moment or two, he relaxed and surprised her by brushing his thumb over her hand in a soothing motion.

Around halfway through the film, Beth curled her legs up underneath her bottom and bravely relaxed into Daryl, letting her head rest on his shoulder lazily. Daryl stiffened dramatically at her sudden change of position and she could feel his heart beat pounding against his chest. Once again, she carried on staring at the television and pretended that nothing had happened. Daryl eventually relaxed underneath her and surprised her once again by moving his free hand so that it was draped around her hip.

She was certain that he could see the stupidly wide smile that spread across her face at that, but she didn't even care. Not one little bit.

When the movie finished, Beth let out a little sigh and looked up at him. He glanced back down at her, squinting slightly, and she giggled before sitting up and turning off the television. The room plunged in to complete darkness and she could just about make out his silhouette on the chair.

"It's late," she murmured, holding out her hand to him to help him up. Beth walked them into the porch and bit her lip before gazing at him for a long moment. "I know it might seem a little forward, but why don't you stay the night?"

Beth's question surprised the both of them, and she could see by his twitching expressions that Daryl was battling within himself whether he should stay or not.

"You sure?" he asked. Beth nodded her head gently, locking the front door before turning to face him again. She assumed that Jasmine would be staying out again tonight, and even if she wasn't, Beth was almost certain she had a front door key on her.

"Yeah," she said without hesitancy. "I'd like that."


	8. Chapter 8

_What's gotten into you_? Beth couldn't help but question herself as she led the way up the stairs.

She was sure she hadn't poured any vodka into the lemonade by accident, but she was feeling so bold and so confident and so _different._

It was so unlike her to make the first move for anything, and now all night she had made first moves. What was she doing, inviting him to stay with her, anyway? She didn't even know if he liked her like that.

_Am I being too forward? _

_What if he thinks I'm being pushy? _

_What if he thinks I'm __**easy**__?_

Beth muffled a groan as she got to her bedroom door. She knew she was over thinking things. Just a few years ago, some of her friends who were barely even legal would jump into bed with men they had only met hours before at a bar or a club. They were always heavily intoxicated and sometimes they didn't even know each others names. More often than not, they couldn't remember anything the morning after, either.

But that wasn't Beth, that had never been Beth. She had never wanted to be like that with anybody and whilst she would never judge her friends for wanting to let their hair down and have a little fun, she never saw the appeal of getting far too drunk and having a one-night stand that you would most likely regret a few weeks later.

The sound of Daryl clearing his throat caught Beth's attention and she spun around quickly. She wandered into her bedroom and flicked on the lamp but he remained rooted to the spot at her doorway, looking straight at her with intense eyes.

Beth looked at him over her shoulder innocently, her eyes wide and curious. He didn't say anything, didn't move. She watched him for a moment before letting a out a soft smile.

"Come on in," she said. He smirked a little at that and followed her into the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. "Sorry, I know you don't have anything to wear to bed, and we don't have any men here, so..."

Beth pulled out a pair of shorts that she had been given a while back. They were men's basketball shorts that she had never worn; instead they had been dumped at the bottom of her wardrobe, forgotten about until now.

She threw them in Daryl's direction and he caught them easily. Beth made her way over to her dresser and pulled out some pajamas of her own before heading into the bathroom to change, leaving Daryl alone in her bedroom to do the same.

Once she was in the privacy of the bathroom, Beth took a good look at herself in the mirror. She let out a shaky breath as she stared at her reflection.

"What has gotten into you?"

This time, she said it out loud in a half-whisper. She was still shocked at her boldness. Beth had known when they were downstairs that she had wanted Daryl to stay the night, but now that he was here, she had no idea where to even begin.

What would he want from her?

Would he expect her to do anything?

Was he just as nervous as her?

Quickly changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth, Beth flicked the light off behind her and made her way back into her bedroom. She offered Daryl a smile as he still stood in the same spot as before, having changed his jeans for the shorts, but leaving his t-shirt on.

Beth crawled into bed and reached over so that she was ready to turn off the light. She patted the spot next to her when she noticed he was still stood up.

"I don't bite," she said with a little laugh. His lips quirked up slightly but he didn't say anything as he sat on the bed next to her. Beth clicked the switch of the light, the room plunging into darkness before they both settled in bed.

Beth let out a tired yawn and was pleased to hear Daryl chuckling.

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them as they both relaxed. Beth felt herself getting more and more at ease with him beside her, and a small part of her thought that she could definitely get used to this. It was so easy with him, even if he did let her do most of the talking and even if he didn't really make any of the first moves.

It had crossed her mind a few times as to whether she was annoying him, but he did always seem to listen to everything she said and he asked her questions sometimes, too. And he had been the one to ask her out to dinner, after all; so that surely had to count for something.

Plus, given what he had said on the porch when he had asked her to dinner, it had sounded like Aaron had suggested something to him. About her and him having dinner. Maybe about him asking her out to dinner? Beth briefly wondered whether Daryl had been talking about her to his friends, asking for advice on how to go about approaching her.

Beth bit her lip as she entertained the thought of it. She couldn't imagine him doing it. She reminded herself that if someone would have told her a few months ago that she would have had a kind of _date _with a man, she would have laughed straight in their face.

"Daryl?" Beth murmured into the darkness.

"Mm?"

"I had a nice night tonight," she said, thankful for the darkness that could hide her burning cheeks. "Thank you."

He snorted at that.

"Girl, you did all the cookin' an' it's your house. I should be thankin' you."

Beth giggled at that. She supposed he had a point.

"Yeah, but you were the one who asked me to do something. If you hadn't have asked me then I definitely wouldn't have had such a nice night. So... thank you."

"Welcome," he said in a low tone.

Beth fell asleep with her back facing towards him, a happy smile on her face as she drifted into sleep. Lying there in bed with him was so peaceful and innocent and nothing like she had ever imagined. There was no pressure when it came to Daryl, and she wondered if he felt the same with her.

She hoped he did.

**xxxxx**

When she awoke the next morning, Beth wasn't quite sure how she had managed to tangle herself up in his limbs, but she had a done a damn good job of it.

Her head was tucked under his chin, her arms wrapped around his middle tightly. One of her legs was nestled in the middle of his, the other tucked around his hip at an awkward angle that was strangely comfortable. Daryl was still sleeping when she woke, meaning that his full weight was resting on one of her arms, effectively trapping it underneath him, whilst his legs pinned her one between his.

She was trapped.

Beth's heart pounded against her chest as she realised how close they were. He had one arm resting lazily around her, but apart from that, there was no real effort on his part into the embrace. Beth was so embarrassed but there was no way she could move her body away without waking him up.

He was going to think she was crazy, she was sure of it. Was he going to think that she was coming on to him? Probably. Thinking back to the night before, she wondered if he had been disappointed that she hadn't put out. They hadn't even kissed. Wasn't that something that you did on a date?

Daryl's breathing changed and she felt him stiffen beneath her as he stretched out his body. Beth's eyes widened in shock and she panicked slightly. If he woke up to see her watching him, he would definitely think she was crazy.

So she snapped her eyelids shut and tried her best to pretend she was asleep.

It seemed like he bought it for the most part. She felt him jump a little when he realised how close they were. Beth heard him swear under his breath and she felt him move a little to the side. It seemed that when he realised how closely tangled they were, he, like her before, gave up trying to move away.

Beth fought the urge to smile a little bit when he started running a hand through her hair. She could only imagine how terrible it looked - it had definitely curled during the night and probably looked more like a birds nest than hair, but as he ran his fingers through it, she couldn't help but feel happy.

She shifted after a few minutes, regretting it the second she did. Beth instantly had to pretend that she was stirring awake and Daryl stopped playing with her hair immediately, his whole body tensing up. Beth blinked up at him sleepily and offered him a little smile as she stretched her body out. He took the opportunity to roll away from her.

"Mornin'," Beth yawned, trying not to let the disappointment show on her face at the loss of contact and his body heat. He nodded his head towards her in acknowledgement. "Sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah," he told her, his voice raspy with sleep.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah," he said again, causing them both to laugh a little.

"Come on then," she said. "I'll make us breakfast before the children have to get ready for school."

**xxxx**

After Beth had made them both breakfast, Daryl informed her that he had to leave and once he had got dressed back into his jeans, she followed him out onto the porch of her house. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek and thanked him again for coming round, and he nodded his head at her.

As they had stood there on her porch, she could feel the watchful eyes of people passing by who she didn't really know and was certain Daryl didn't really know, either. He looked just as uncomfortable as she did.

"Folk around here love a bit o' gossip," Beth told him, and Daryl looked at her thoughtfully.

"Can imagine," he sighed. "Not that we've got better things to be worryin' about, is it?" She laughed at his sarcastic tone and shook her head.

"Why, Mr Dixon," she grinned playfully, batting her eyelashes in an over-exaggerated manner. "You're talking as if the world as we know it has ended, and the dead have risen and are constantly trying to sink their teeth into us."

He laughed at that and so did she, rolling her eyes at her own joke.

"I'll see you soon?" she asked, praying that her eyes didn't give away everything. Her father had always told her that she was an open book and that everyone could see exactly what she was feeling just by looking at her face. Beth had often wondered how true that had been, and she found herself wishing that she had a better poker face and Daryl's eyes fluttered across her face, drinking everything in.

Yeah, he definitely saw.

"Course," he said, and Beth bit her lip as she smiled at him.

"OK. Have a lovely day, Daryl," she told him as she made her way back towards the front door.

"You too, Beth," he said before making his way back towards his house.

Beth walked back through the door and made her way up the stairs, busying herself with the task of getting the children dressed and ready for school in an attempt to keep happy thoughts of the night before at bay for a little while longer.


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I used this chapter to try and get in a bit of the back story when it comes to Beth and her relationship with the twins. I also wanted to get a bit of the history about what Jasmine has gone through when it comes to the twins and give a bit of insight into what happened to her to make her the way she is now, where she's a complete disappearing act.**

**I hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

_"But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do, and I would gladly hit the road, get up and go if I knew that someday it would lead me back to you..."_

Beth sang at the top of her lungs as she pulled the fresh bread that she had been baking from the oven. It had been three days since Daryl had stayed over, and although she hadn't seen him since, her good mood had not faltered.

_"That may be all I need, in darkness she is all I see, come and rest your bones with me..."_

But for as long as it had been since she hadn't seen Daryl, it had been even longer since she had seen Jasmine. Beth knew that nothing had happened to her because she had been asking around, and although nobody seemed to want to tell Beth where Jasmine had been staying, a few people had mentioned that they had seen her at work and that Beth needn't worry.

Always polite, Beth had smiled and thanked the people who provided her with the information on her sister's well being. But deep down, Beth had been angry and disappointed. She didn't know these people who claimed to be good friends with Jasmine, but if they were such good friends, why were they so happy for her to ignore the needs of her children? Oliver and Ariella hadn't seen their mother in days and had been asking about her whereabouts.

It took a lot to make Beth furious. She had a cool temperament, and she tried her best not to get involved in arguments. There were times when she got angry, she was only human, after all. But to make her furious? To really piss her off?

It took a lot to do that.

So when Jasmine eventually stumbled home the next day, Beth tried her very hardest not to let it show that inside she was raging. Beth remembered everything she had been taught in Church and at Sunday School and repeated verses of the Bible in her mind. She thought to herself about how she would feel if she were in Jasmine's shoes and she had lost the father of her children, the man she cared about more than anything.

It didn't work.

"Beth," Jasmine smiled as she strolled into the living room where Beth had been practicing on the piano. Beth froze, her hands dropping to her sides as she slowly turned her head round to face Jasmine.

Jasmine smiled at her as though it were completely normal for her to be stood there in the living room. Beth noted that it was lunchtime and that Jasmine should be working, but she tried not to get distracted with little details. She concentrated on keeping her cool and remaining calm, but it was challenging, to say the least.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a date with Daryl Dixon?"

Jasmine's tone was playful and light.

"Maybe if you hadn't disappeared, you would have known for yourself."

Her cool tone caused Jasmine's head to snap up from where she was messing about in her handbag. She looked Beth dead on, a shocked look in her eyes. Jasmine wasn't used to seeing Beth worked up about anything.

Beth was always the calm one, the one who talked sense and used a sweet voice. Beth was the one who was good with children and animals and danced around with the aura of a Disney Princess.

"What?"

"I said, maybe if you hadn't disappeared, you would have known for yourself. You know, maybe if you would have been here - at your home, with your family - then you would have known. You would have been there when I was getting ready for my date, you would have been here when he came round, you would have been here the next day to listen to me rant on about it like I always ramble on about everything. But you weren't."

It all came out at once. Beth had wanted to keep her mouth shut about it and go about it by giving Jasmine the silent treatment, but that idea was obviously out of the window now. It didn't matter much, really. Deep down, Beth knew that this was all going to come out one way or another anyway. Why not get it over and done with?

"What are you trying to say?" Jasmine asked, her brown eyes narrowing at her from across the room.

Beth shrugged her shoulders in response.

Despite the fury that was bubbling underneath her, she was surprising herself by remaining so icy and detached. Her voice was hard and cold, no emotion cracking through in her words to show how upset she actually was with her friend. No tears threatened to fall, no trembling of her hands, no nothing.

This was a long time coming, after all.

"No, Beth. Really. What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not _trying_ to say anything," she said through gritted teeth. "I _am_ sayin' that this is getting beyond a joke. I've been worried about you. Oliver and Ariella have been worried about you. We've had no idea where you were, who you were with -"

"You're not my parents!" Jasmine spat childishly, clearly getting worked up at Beth's words. Beth rolled her eyes.

"No, we aren't. You're supposed to be their parent! You're supposed to be my sister. But you're not there. You're never there. I walk them to school, I prepare their food, I kiss them goodbye, I bath them, I dress them. Whilst you run around town, staying who knows where."

Beth stood up now, hovering in front of the piano as she looked at Jasmine with stony eyes.

"I don't want to fight with you," Beth said with a sigh. "I don't want to upset you. And I don't even care about you upsetting me. But I do care about the fact that you're upsetting them. You're _hurting_ them. They don't deserve this."

"Are you trying to say I'm a bad mother?" Jasmine hissed.

Beth slapped her palm to her face and dragged it down, groaning dramatically as she did so.

"Did I say that? _No_. I never said you're a bad mother."

"You may as well have done!" Jasmine shouted hysterically, her arms flying everywhere as she did so, dropping her handbag at her feet. "I don't need this shit from you, Beth. I can take it off everyone, but not from you."

"Then stop doing this! You're damaging them, don't you see? It's not fair what you're doing."

Beth's own voice was rising and she knew it, but she couldn't help it.

She knew that the windows to the lounge were open and anyone would be able to hear the two girls screaming at each other if they were listening as they walked past, but she was beyond caring anymore.

Something had snapped inside her and she was shocked to say the least, but now that she was here in this moment, saying all of the things that had been building up inside her for years, she couldn't stop.

Beth couldn't hold it in anymore.

Memories of Oliver asking her why his mother didn't want him came back to her. Of Ariella asking why her mother never brushed her hair and sang her to sleep like Beth did. Of them both crying to her and saying that they wished she was their mother. Those weren't even from that long ago.

Memories flooded back to her of a time before they could even walk or talk; when all they could do was cry in her arms as she tried her best to calm them down whilst Jasmine walked ahead, completely oblivious to Beth's struggle. Whilst Beth rummaged through every run-down shop in an attempt to find formula before she even looked for food for herself, despite Jasmine having milk in her breasts ready for them to feed on.

"Those two children are my priority," Beth continued. "I love them more than anything."

"And I don't?"

"I didn't say that! Stop acting like I'm accusing you of hating them!" Beth shrieked, completely losing it now. "Just because you feel guilty about the fact that you're never there doesn't mean I'm saying that you're a bad parent or that you don't love them. But if you're accusing yourself of that then be my guest!"

Jasmine glared in Beth's direction.

"I don't need this. I'm going." She picked up her bag from the floor and made a beeline for the front door. Beth followed her round quickly, watching as she swung open the front door. "Don't bother asking around for me again, Beth. I don't give a shit what you think."

"You're supposed to be my sister," Beth growled. Jasmine stared at her with cold brown eyes for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"Good job I'm not," was all she said before she slammed the front door, leaving Beth stood alone in the hallway, her mouth gaping open.

She didn't know where all of that had come from. Since when did she speak to anybody like that? And since when did she let her anger consume her enough to possess her and spit out hurtful words to someone she considered family?

Guilt clawed at her stomach and Beth was certain that the nasty feeling wasn't going to disappear anytime soon. She took a moment to collect herself and check in her emotions before she opened the front door and made her way outside.

Some fresh air would probably help.

**xxxxx**

_"But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do, Sunday Morning, rain is falling and I'm calling out to you, singing someday it'll bring me back to you, find a way to bring myself back home to you..."_

_"May not know, that may be all I need, in darkness, she is all -"_

"Aunty Beth," Ariella's sweet voice interrupted the song, and Beth splattered her hands on the keys, making an awful sound.

Beth swung her head around quickly and was more than shocked to see Daryl stood in the living room behind her niece.

"Hello," Beth breathed at him, smiling sheepishly. She was shocked at how caught up she had been in the song that she hadn't even heard anyone knock at the door, never mind Ariella let him into the house. A blush crept over her cheeks and she tried to act casual as she stood up from the bench at the piano. Daryl was looking straight at her with a little smirk on his lips.

Did he know how embarrassed she was right now to have been caught belting out a tune over at the piano? Is that why he looked so amused?

"Ariella, sweetheart, why don't you go back outside and play with your brother in the garden for a little while longer?" Ariella agreed and made her way out to the garden, leaving Beth and Daryl alone.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked, and he nodded his head yes. She led him into the kitchen and poured them both a glass of iced tea.

"So," she said as she took a long sip. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Thought I'd visit. Figured I hadn't seen you in a few days, an' I said I'd be round soon, so..."

Beth grinned happily.

"Of course," she smiled. "I'm glad you did. I could use a bit of adult company. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy now that I'm not working at the clinic as much."

Daryl cocked a brow at her but said nothing as he settled himself on one of the bar stools that were decorated around the kitchen island. Beth perched herself on top of the counter next to him, sipping at her drink occasionally.

"Don't ya live here with your sister?" he asked. Beth shook her head.

"No. I mean, yes, I do. She's just never usually here..." she trailed off, picking at the hem of her light pink dress. Beth could feel his eyes burning into her but she didn't dare look at him.

"Have you heard about what happened today?"

Daryl shook his head no, taking a swig of his own drink, and Beth sighed in relief. She wondered how many people had heard her and Jasmine arguing and she knew that gossip spread like wildfire in Alexandria. She was surprised nobody had come to check in on her already.

"Why, wha' happened?" Beth could hear the concern in his voice and that made her smile.

"Nothin' awful," she told him, finally feeling brave enough to make eye contact. He was looking at her strangely in a way that made her heart pound faster against her chest. "Me and Jasmine had an argument. A pretty bad one, really."

"D'ya wanna talk about it?" he asked her after a moment. Beth let out a frustrated sigh and nodded her head up and down, diving straight into the story.

She recapped everything from the beginning. Beth wasn't sure why she felt so comfortable telling him all of this - all of the weight she had been carrying on her shoulders for so long. But she did.

Beth told him about how her and Jasmine had met at the start of the apocalypse after she had ran away from home because her mother had been bit and her parents had begged her to run. She explained how she found Jasmine after she had ran for at least a day and how Jasmine had taken her in. The girls were alone and made their way all across Georgia for what felt like forever until they stumbled upon a town called Woodbury.

Beth noticed that Daryl stiffened at that, but she didn't say anything to him about it. She told him how they didn't stay there for very long - Beth wasn't fond of the man who called himself the Governor, even though Jasmine was quite comfortable and had even found herself a man that she was interested in.

She explained how the man wasn't really too interested, even after Jasmine got pregnant, and eventually they ran when the Governor seemed to get a bit power-crazy. They went back when Jasmine was ready to give birth, but the whole town had been destroyed and Jasmine found the dead body of the man she loved. Beth had to drag her away from it and she believed that the stress she had put on herself caused her waters to break and Jasmine went into an early labor.

Her tale was interrupted by the twins rushing into the kitchen covered in mud. She gasped dramatically and instructed for them to go upstairs, letting them know that she would be up to bathe them shortly. They laughed at her expense and rushed away, Beth smiling after them.

Beth went on to tell Daryl how she looked far and wide for formula and made a little contraption to carry both of the twins as Jasmine wouldn't even hold them, never mind feed them. She then explained how they came to Alexandria after Aaron found them just before the twins first birthday and they had stayed in the town ever since.

She then went on to explain about the argument she had had with Jasmine earlier that day. Daryl nodded his head in understanding as she vented, and once her story was over, she suddenly felt extremely relieved.

"Wow," she breathed. "I know I just talked at you for at least a whole hour, but you have no idea how good I feel now," she laughed. Daryl smiled back at her. "I have to go bath the twins, but I can be back in ten minutes or so if you're alright down here?"

"I can help, if ya like," he said. Beth looked at him with wide eyes.

"Really? You don't mind?" she asked. Despite the fact that she didn't want to appear too eager, having a helping hand would definitely make bath time much easier for her.

"Nah, s'fine," he said, gulping down the last of his drink before standing up so that he was at eye level with her from where she sat on the counter. She looked at him gratefully.

"You're such a godsend. Thank you," she grinned before she pushed herself down from the kitchen island and made her way up the stairs.

"Ain't nothin'," he said as she led the way to the bathroom.

She giggled at his dismissal as she turned the tap and began preparing the bath for the children.

* * *

**I'm messing with the timeline of this a little bit. So after it's now been revealed that Beth and Jasmine were living at Woodbury for a while, it's now set that the prison and Woodbury fell three years ago. Everything that happened on the show has still happened in this story (Terminus, Father Gabriel etc) but just without Beth and spanning over three years, so dragged out a little longer. **

**Hope that makes sense. For this, the timeline isn't really too important - it was just so that I could have the twins being the age that they are in my story. **

**Oh, and the song Beth sings in this is Sunday Morning - Maroon 5. Just in case anybody was wondering.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**This is quite a short chapter in comparison to some of the others, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. I wanted to show the bond that is slowly developing between Beth and Daryl and I also wanted to give some more information about what Jasmine's been up to. I guess I wanted to throw a bit of drama in to this story in regards to the other characters.**

**I'm also going to put a few more characters from the group on the show into the story a bit more. They've taken a back seat for the last nine chapters whilst Beth has had her own things going on and I thought it was about time she made some real friends in Alexandria.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I know I've said this before, but you're _really_ good with kids," Beth laughed as she walked Daryl back into the kitchen.

He just shrugged his shoulders at her, something she noticed he did a lot. Daryl didn't seem to know how to react whenever she compliment him and it shocked her a little. A lot of the men she had interacted with over her life were so sure of themselves and their abilities, but he was nothing like that.

Daryl had never acted in a way that made her think he was arrogant or full of himself. She didn't want to knock him down from his own pedestal the way she often wanted to whenever she caught a glimpse of a smug smile or a confident laugh. He was sweet in his own way, and almost shy when he was around her.

"Thanks for helping me tonight. I really appreciate the help." He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Before you say 'ain't nothin''," she said in her best deep voice, "it is something. I really, really appreciate the help. Oliver and Ariella are a handful, and I love them more than anything, but I'm not their mama, and it can be hard sometimes."

"You're good to them." Those few words were all it took for her to dip her head and blush. She noticed that whilst he was shrugging a lot, her cheeks were burning a lot. Beth wondered if he was ever just as nervous around her as she was around him.

But he was just so handsome and even kind and she wasn't sure when they had become friends or if they could even consider each other friends, but she was suddenly very glad that she had stayed late at work that night that felt so long ago now and that he had walked her home.

And then she was very glad that her nephew had booted his ball onto his porch and that he was the one who came out from the door.

And she was very, very glad that he had asked her for dinner and that he had even stayed the night and that she had turned into him in her sleep and that he had let her stay like that.

As she stood there in the kitchen, she was suddenly aware of how handsome he was and how nice his arms looked, even when they were relaxed. And she was also aware of how plain she was; how skinny and fragile and how pale in comparison to his tan and so talkative compared to his quiet.

They were very different people - complete polar opposites, really. But here he was, stood beside her in her kitchen once more, looking at her with a soft smile on his lips. He had just helped bath her niece and her nephew because their own mother was too busy doing goodness knows what with goodness knows who and he didn't even have a bad word to say to her about Jasmine, either.

Even though she had ranted and raved and moaned about her sister, Daryl hadn't said anything negative about her at all. He had reassured Beth that she shouldn't feel so guilty - her breaking down and finally snapping was completely understandable and that she shouldn't feel bad about it.

Well, he had done in so many words.

_"I feel so awful," she said as she unplugged the bath, watching as the muddy water started to pour down the drain. Daryl frowned at her. _

_"Why?" he asked._

_"Jasmine's their mother, you know?" she sighed. "And I just... I don't know. I feel like this is all my fault. I shouldn't be complaining about looking after them when I love them so much. I'd look after them every day for the rest of my life if they needed me too. I just want her to see that they need their mother, you know? This isn't about me. It's about them."_

_He grunted in response. Beth appreciated his silence. He obviously didn't know what to say to her to comfort her, but in truth, she didn't want him to say anything at all. She only wanted someone to listen to her and give her the occasional nod or 'mmm' to let them know that they could hear her, and that all of this was real, and that she wasn't going crazy._

_"Do you think I was too hard on her?" _

_"Nah," he said. Beth smiled a little at that._

_"Still, I can't help but feel guilty for being so mean to her."_

_"She's your sister," he said simply. "She'll get it."_

Daryl collected his things and let Beth know that he was going to get going. She nodded her head and followed him to the front door. As he stood there on her porch getting ready to walk home, she felt the desire to kiss him, but she resisted.

Even if he did look so good in his sleeveless tee shirts and his faded blue jeans.

"You should come round again soon," Beth said to him. He nodded his head at her. "Have a safe walk," she said before waving and closing the door once she could no longer see him wandering away.

Beth wasn't sure what Daryl wanted from her. Maybe he didn't want anything at all. Or perhaps he was lonely, like she often felt, and maybe he just wanted a friend. If that was the case, she decided that she would be the best friend Daryl Dixon had ever had.

**xxxxx**

"Hello Eugene," Beth called as she strolled through the clinic.

"G'morning, Beth," Eugene said. He stood up from where he had been sat in the waiting room and followed her into the office that they now shared.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as he closed the door behind him. She began flicking through her diary and looking at the list of appointments she had for that day. It wasn't a particularly busy day for her. "I thought that you were off today."

"I am supposed to be, but I needed to talk to you about something." Beth looked at him curiously. "Actually, it's more about someone," he started. "Jasmine. Your friend."

"My sister," Beth corrected.

"Yeah," he stuttered. "Right. Your sister. Affirmative." Beth cocked a brow at him, but didn't say anything more to interrupt him. He took a deep breath in before looking at her with an overly serious expression that made Beth bite back a little laugh.

"I've been watching her for the past few days, and I have some concerns."

"You've been watching Jasmine?" Beth asked, taken aback by his words. Her light brows furrowed in confusion and she shot him a startled look that didn't seem to effect him whatsoever. Maybe he was used to people being more than surprised at some of the things he came out with by now. Of all the things he could have told her, that was the last thing she thought he would have said. Beth wondered if he realised how creepy he sounded when he worded things the way he did.

"What do you mean by watching? Like, stalking?"

"No. Not stalking. I've been _investigating_."

"Investigating what, exactly?" Beth said with a frown. She knew that Eugene was harmless, but his poor social skills had gotten him into trouble with the people in Alexandria on more than one occasion already and she didn't want him making things worse for himself.

The memory of Mrs Goodman slapping him across the face when he suggested that he personally check for lumps in her breasts. He had looked so angry when he told Beth what she had done, and Mrs Goodman had demanded that she only was seen to by Beth from then on. Beth had laughed heartily at him, knowing in her heart that as perverted as it had sounded, Eugene really didn't mean it like that.

He admitted to Beth - and to Mrs Goodman - that the thought of touching the older woman like that was more than unpleasant for him and he was just trying to be professional about it and get on with it. Beth suggested that in future he ask people what they wanted to do about things they thought they had found, and perhaps if a woman came to him with a similar problem in future, he suggest that they make an appointment with Beth so that the experience was more comfortable and professional for the both of them.

"Her behaviour is becoming erratic. It's come to my attention that she's regularly late for work and is leaving early a lot, too. She's been meeting up with married men and sneaking out of people's houses at different hours in the morning."

Beth suppressed a sigh and allowed her head to fall into her hands. She shook her head left and right a few times before looking back up at Eugene with tired eyes.

"Eugene, I don't think that this is anyone else's business but Jasmine's."

"Beth," Eugene said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I think it's going to cause trouble for her. Sneaking around with married men is only going to go unnoticed for so long. What if Deanna removes her from Alexandria for causing problems?"

Beth scoffed at that.

"Jasmine can't get kicked out for helping someone have an affair. If she is doing that, then I definitely don't agree, but it's not for anyone else to judge what goes on behind closed doors."

"Jess is a lovely woman," Eugene said after a few moments silence passed between them. "She's attractive, too. It's not fair of your sister to be sneaking around with her husband."

Hearing the name of the woman who had so kindly taken Oliver and Ariella to the school to do her a favour hit what Eugene was saying home. But Beth tried to keep her expression straight. As much as she didn't want to judge him, she had heard that Eugene had a reputation for being a liar, and she owed it to her best friend - her sister - to at least let her explain before she accused her of anything.

"Eugene, you can't just throw these sort of accusations around. It might be completely innocent. Why don't I speak to Jasmine about it when I see her and see what she has to say for herself."

Her preposition seemed to please him as he kept his mouth closed. Beth waved Eugene goodbye as she got started on her appointments for the day, resisting the urge to check the clock behind her every few minutes.

**xxxxx**

As dull as working at the clinic was, sometimes it had it's moments. Later that day, Beth found that one of those moments occurred when Maggie Rhee walked through for her appointment, which happened to be the last appointment of the day.

"Hello, Mrs Rhee," Beth smiled politely as Maggie took a seat in the office. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well," Maggie said with a smile. "I think I'm pregnant."


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**Another short chapter and this one explores Beth and Jasmine's relationship in a bit more detail. It's set a little bit in advance from the last chapter because I figured that they would both need a little bit more time to cool down from their argument and meet in the middle with their tails between their legs. **

**As sweet as Beth's character is, I also think she's really feisty, and I don't think she would give in too easily. **

**On that note, I'm working a lot this weekend so I'm not sure when I'll next get chance to update. But I'm hoping that the fact I've written eleven chapters in two days is enough to last in case I don't get chance to return to this story until Monday.**

**Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any ideas for this story!**

* * *

News of Maggie's pregnancy spread through Alexandria like wildfire. Deanna herself had been to see Beth about it and discuss what they could do to help her for the next nine months to ensure that the pregnancy was, in Deanna's words, 'successful'.

Beth felt a little uncomfortable at the terminology used, but she shrugged it off. She knew that Deanna was passionate about Alexandria, to say the least, and that she wanted the community to thrive. A part of thriving naturally included reproduction, and there was an excited buzz that entered the clinic every time Maggie came for her weekly check-up to confirm that everything was indeed going to plan.

Books were littered over Beth's desk and she scribbled down more notes into her pad that was quickly filling with tips about pregnancy and the things that Maggie could need. A knock on Beth's office door startled her, and she instructed for the person to come in.

Blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of Jasmine stood hesitantly in the doorway. Beth frowned slightly before easing her features.

"May I?" Jasmine asked tentatively, looking around the office. Beth nodded her head quickly.

"Of course, of course," she said, standing up to pull out a chair. "Sit down."

Despite the fact that they hadn't spoken since their argument over two and a half weeks ago, Beth wasn't that angry at Jasmine anymore. Not really. She didn't forgive her for what she was putting her children through each time she chose not to come home for the night, but Beth reminded herself that not everybody was perfect and that she too had made mistakes in her past.

She wished her best friend - her sister - could see how she was damaging her own children by shutting them out, but at least Beth was there to try and pick up the pieces.

"How are you?" Beth asked in a gentle tone. Gone was the frustration and the bitterness and the screaming tones. She was calm now, and part of her felt a little bit sorry. Not for the things she said but for the way that she had argued with someone she cared about more than anything, someone who she considered to be family. Beth was sad that her words had hurt another person the way they obviously had hurt Jasmine, and although Beth would never agree with her behaviour, she couldn't be furious at her forever, either.

"I'm OK," Jasmine sighed, running a hand through her auburn hair. "Yeah. I'm alright. How are you?"

"Not too bad," Beth said as she closed the books that were littered around the desk. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm not here to see Doctor Beth," Jasmine said with a little smile. "I'm here to see just Beth."

"Just Beth?" she countered with a little grin of her own. "I'm sure I can do that for you. Forgive me if I'm still in Doctor Beth mode. It's just weird when we're in the office..."

"Do you wanna go somewhere?" Jasmine asked, her brown eyes wide and alert. Beth took a long look around her office before nodding her head. It wasn't like she had any more appointments, anyway, and it was getting closer and closer to tea time. The children would be at home alone and she told Jasmine that she couldn't stay out too long.

Jasmine nodded her head and followed as Beth led the way, locking the door to her office and then the door to the clinic behind her. They made their way over to where a little park had been built for the children.

Some of the men had made swings and a slide along with a water area and a little sandbox. It wasn't much, but considering society as they knew it before had all but disintegrated, it was more than enough. Like everything in Alexandria, it had a vibe to it that made you feel as though you were still living in the world as it was before.

Before the virus spread and before the dead started walking. Before people turned against people and before the lines between good and bad were blurred even more than they already used to be.

"So," Beth said as she plopped herself on one of the swings. Jasmine copied her and sat in the swing next to her. Beth kicked the ground as she pushed herself on it. Jasmine did the same but with a little less enthusiasm. "What did you want to talk to 'just Beth' about?"

"I wanted to apologise," Jasmine sighed. Beth didn't say anything to that. She knew that it took a lot for Jasmine to admit she was wrong and apologise, but that still didn't make anything alright. Not really.

"I want to apologise, too," Beth said gently. "Not for what I said. I meant a lot of it, and I still do. I do think that Oliver and Ariella need their mother, and I do think that you should be there more. But I'm sorry for the fact that the things I said hurt your feelings. And I'm sorry that I shouted at you."

"I'm sorry I said you weren't my sister," Jasmine muttered. Beth smiled at that.

"That's OK," Beth grinned, leaning over and looking straight at Jasmine. "That's what sisters do."

"I do love them, Beth," Jasmine said with a sigh, kicking the ground hard as she swung up in the air. "And I know I'm a shitty mother to them."

"That's not true," Beth frowned.

"Yes, it is," Jasmine countered. "You know it is. They'd be better off without me. You know that they wish you were their mother instead of me..."

"That's not fair," Beth frowned once more. "It must be confusing for them when they have me doing things for them that they want their mom doing. They might think they wish I was their mama, but they don't. Not really. They just wish it was their mama doing those things for them instead of their aunt."

Jasmine thought on Beth's words for a minute. The girls swung in silence, Beth deciding not to say anything else until Jasmine was ready to talk.

Jasmine opened her mouth again a few moments later.

"I can't do it, Beth," she eventually said. Her voice was strained and Beth wondered if she was about to cry.

It had been a long time since Beth had seen Jasmine cry.

"It's so hard. And every day, he looks so much more like him..." she trailed off, wiping underneath her eyes. "Everything about him. Even the way he talks. And Ariella. She reminds me of him too, just not as much. But it's still there. I can still see so much of him in her, and it breaks my heart, you know?"

"I know," Beth said, not knowing what else to say in that moment.

"I think it makes it worse that deep down I know that he didn't love me. And I don't think he wanted them. Hell, he didn't even know he was going to be having two. He thought it was just the one. He always said to me it was going to be a boy..." she gulped before looking away. "But knowing he didn't even care. Not really. That's what makes it worse. When they're so much like him..."

"You don't know he didn't care," Beth said. "Neither do I. If he did, he had a funny way of showing it, but I think he just didn't know what to do. He liked you enough to get you pregnant, so you can't act like he hated you or somethin'."

The girls were quiet for a moment whilst Jasmine cried to herself. Beth wanted to reach out and hug her sister, but she felt as though in that moment, it just wasn't what Jasmine needed. She needed her personal space to cry it out alone.

"I'd like to think that if he was alive... If he was here now, he'd love them both. Even if just for the fact that they were his blood and nothing more. But I think - I truly, honestly think - that he would love them. How could he not?"

Jasmine smiled at Beth's words. Beth meant everything she was saying, too. As difficult as they could be at times, the twins were so easy to love. They were adorable and funny and sweet, and even when they were up to mischief and giving her heart failure, Beth still found them hilarious. They were clever and made her look at life in a completely different way to how she used to see it. Oliver and Ariella made things simple and brighter and better and she couldn't imagine a single soul not loving them.

"Yeah," Jasmine breathed, her tears having finally stopped. "You're right. How could he not?"

"Why don't you come home tonight?" Beth said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Jasmine bit her lip as she contemplated the offer.

"If I do," she said, looking at Beth with a glint in her brown eyes. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Daryl Dixon?"

Beth bit her lip and smiled brightly.

"Only if you're going to tell me what's going on with you and a supposedly married man."

Jasmine looked horrified at that. Beth let out a laugh.

"I'm joking," she said. "Although if the rumours about that are true, I really am disappointed. You shouldn't go down that road, Jasmine. It's a messy one."

"I know," Jasmine sighed. "It's easier said than done, though."

"Is it?" Beth asked as the girls jumped off the swings and made their way back to the house that they shared.

"I think so." Jasmine answered.


	12. Chapter 12

"No you didn't," Beth said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I did," Daryl said with a sigh. His serious expression just made Beth laugh even harder.

Whilst Beth couldn't help but have romantic feelings for the man who was sprawled across one of the couches in her living room, she was glad that their friendship had blossomed over the last few weeks. Although she couldn't deny the fact that a part of her wanted something more from him, she was more than happy taking things as they came.

And they came slowly.

It had started with her inviting him over for dinner once, which developed into her inviting him round every couple of nights, and then in the end she didn't need to invite him anymore. Some days she would seek him out and invite him round; if she was bored or particularly wanted to see him.

Not that she didn't want to see him everyday. But that was too much, too soon - too clingy and too desperate and she didn't want to seem so _needy_.

Beth enjoyed his company, more than anything. As much as she loved her niece and nephew, spending most of her time interacting with four year olds and nobody else could get more than a little bit boring. A real conversation with someone who wasn't under the age of ten was an achievement for her, and talking with Daryl was just so easy.

Albeit, it wasn't at first.

In the beginning, it had been more difficult than anything. Even now there were times when he wouldn't entertain her and would just grunt and mumble. But even if she did do most of the talking when it came to their conversations, she was slowly starting to notice a difference in the way he was with her. He asked her more questions and shared his own stories and she wasn't even surprised to learn that he was funny and smart and _interesting. _

Daryl knew so much about the world that she had never even put much thought too, and he was always filling her in with little facts that would help her out when she least expected them too.

Like right now - all she had to do was look outside of the living room window and she would be able to get a good guess at the time just by the suns position in the sky. That was something she never would have been able to do before Daryl had shown her, and now it was a little game that she played with herself, practicing her skills in the hope that maybe one day she could show him and she would get it right and maybe he would be proud.

"Damn, girl, are ya even listenin'?"

Beth felt her cheeks turning crimson.

"What? Sorry, Daryl. I am, I promise."

"So what was I just sayin'?" he questioned. Although his tone was gruff, she could tell by the way his lips were quirking upwards ever so slightly that he was just teasing her.

And he teased her a lot.

"Sorry," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands. She had been lay down on the floor in front of the television just talking to him for so long that her back was aching badly. Beth sat up and stretched before making her way into the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink?" He grunted what she made out to be a yes and grabbed them both a glass of iced tea.

"When are you leaving for your next mission?" Beth asked as she sat herself on the couch opposite his. She giggled when he rolled his eyes dramatically at her.

"Will you stop callin' 'em that?" he said.

"Don't you think it makes it all sound more... important?"

"So what I do ain't important?"

Beth's face fell at that, and even though she could practically hear the smile in his voice, her ears burnt a bright red shade and she suddenly felt incredibly hot. She took a sip of her drink to cool her down, rolling her eyes in a way that he had done just moments earlier.

"Shut up," she quirked back, unable to think of a quick comeback whilst she composed herself from being so embarrassed. She ran a hand through her recently straightened hair and began to braid a part of it at the bottom.

"I dunno," he finally answered her original question. "Day after tomorrow, I reckon."

"I'm not working tomorrow," Beth said suddenly, her blue eyes flying open.

Daryl tipped his head back on the armrest of the couch and looked at her quizzically.

"I mean," she began. "Are you busy tomorrow?" He shook his head no. "Why don't you stay tonight, and maybe we could, I don't know... Do something? Hang out? I feel like I never see you during the day."

Beth was rambling and she knew it. She cringed at the hopefulness she could hear in her own voice and prayed that he didn't think she sounded as desperate as she thought she did.

All it took was him nodding his head at her to make her stomach flip.

"Alright," he said. Beth grinned. "I should probably head home for a sec and get some clothes..."

"Sure thing," Beth replied, trying her hardest to sound casual but having a feeling that she was talking way too fast. "I'll put us some food in or somethin'. Actually," she bit her lip as she thought it over, groaning inwardly. "Oliver and Ariella ate all the pasta I cooked. I didn't even get a sniff myself."

She thought to herself for a moment before her face lit up in a smile.

"How about I make us some sandwiches instead?"

"Sandwiches sound good," he said, standing up and brushing down his worn jeans. Beth copied his stance and made her way into the kitchen.

"I'll leave the door unlocked for ya," she called behind her as he made his way towards the door. He held his hand up to her to let him know that he heard her before he left.

Once the door was shut, Beth let out a happy squeal and clapped her hands together over the kitchen island. Daryl had only stayed the night once before and that was when she had barely known him. Now that he was more comfortable around her, perhaps he wouldn't be so distant.

Beth bit her lip to try and contain her smile before she went to work on preparing their sandwiches, but not before she checked her reflection in the oven and made sure that her make up still looked good.

**xxxx**

"No Jasmine tonight?" Daryl asked as he flopped down onto her bed. Beth just shook her head no as she made her way over towards her vanity table, removing her earrings whilst she walked.

Beth placed the earrings delicately on top of the table before she dug a pair of lilac pajama shorts and a matching cropped tee from the chest of drawers beside her bed.

"Nope," she responded. "Not tonight. No sign of her last night, either. I'll be up early taking the kids to school, but I'll try not to wake you up."

"Don't worry about it," he said.

Beth set off into the bathroom and quickly changed from her clothes into the pajamas. The top was smaller than she remembered and showed off a good bit of her belly.

Beth prodded at her ribs as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She supposed that she wasn't too skinny - she had definitely looked a lot worse when she first arrived in Alexandria. But running around after two whirlwinds who behaved like balls of energy was exhausting, and although she made sure that they had their good portions of food, she wasn't as good at looking after herself.

It was funny in an ironic way when she thought about the fact that she was a doctor here and that she spent most of her days reminding other people around her to take the best care of themselves as they possibly could when she couldn't even always remember to feed herself three times a day.

As she looked her reflection up and down several times, she told herself that her revealing choice in nightwear was just a coincidence - the first thing she had picked out of the drawer, really - and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the handsome man who she had left sprawled out in her room.

"You decent?" Beth asked before she stepped back into her bedroom after he grunted a yes at her. Daryl chose to sleep in a tatty grey shirt that Beth thought had probably been white in its day and a pair of baggy navy shorts.

As she leaned over and tossed her dirty clothes into the basket at the end of the bed, she could practically feel his blue eyes burning into the back of her. Beth nibbled on her lip as she turned back around quickly in an attempt to stop herself from smiling too smugly and not for the first time in her life, she swore she saw him blush.

Beth told him to do the same as she had done with his dirty clothes before she crawled her way up the bed and positioned herself underneath the sheets.

Instead of moving, Daryl stood still where he was and shot her a look that she hadn't ever seen him use before. Beth rolled her eyes at him playfully.

"What do you think I'm gonna do, shrink 'em?" she laughed. Daryl smiled a little at that.

"Ya don't have to," he said.

Beth knew what he meant.

"I know. I don't mind," she told him. He nodded at that and tossed them into the basket in the same way she had, causing her to grin brightly at him before he joined her on the bed.

"So," Beth asked once he had got himself comfortable. "What do you wanna do tomorrow?"

Before he could even open his mouth to respond, she was talking again.

"'Cause I was thinking that maybe we could go and get some supplies, since I'm runnin' low, and we could make some food for a picnic and go eat some place quiet. I have a few favourite spots that nobody really goes to."

"Alright," he said in agreement. "I have some things to do too, though," he informed her.

"Oh," she said, her face falling ever so slightly before she picked it back up again. "Alright. Well maybe you could go and run your errands whilst I go get the food stuff and prepare it and then I'll meet you after?"

"You can jus' come with me, if ya want," he told her.

Beth tried her hardest to mask her surprise. Daryl had never invited Beth anywhere. Well, he had asked her to dinner that one time, which she supposed was an invitation. But then she had responded by inviting him to her house and ever since, it was always her inviting him round.

Beth had never been to Daryl's house out of practicality, but sometimes she wondered whether he would invite her round even if she didn't have to stay in the house with the children all of the time.

"Yeah," Beth stuttered out, hoping she didn't sound too shocked. "That would be lovely. So long as you're sure."

Daryl nodded his head at her.

"Gotta stop by and see Carol for a lil' bit, told her I would. She don't finish work til a bit later, but I could always go with ya to drop the kids off and ask her to bring them back with her."

Beth remembered that Carol was helping out as a teacher at the school and she nodded at Daryl's suggestion, pleasantly surprised by his words. She had been certain that he had spoken to Aaron about her after his little slip up when he asked her to dinner a few weeks back, but Beth didn't think he had told any of his other friends about her.

Even if he hadn't, he was going to tomorrow, and surely that meant something.

Surely.

"If you think she wouldn't mind," was all Beth could think to say.

"Nah, she won't. I need to stock up on food to take out with me -"

"On your mission?"

"So I'll do that when you get yours," he growled, narrowing his eyes at her slightly. His tone caused her to laugh lightly, throwing her head back against the pillows, her long hair fanning around her.

His expression faltered as she laughed, and Beth noted that Daryl smiled down at her in such a gentle way, and it really caught her off guard. Beth wasn't sure whether she had stopped breathing, but she felt her body tense up as his eyes slowly roamed her face before they landed back on hers.

Beth wondered what he was thinking as he watched her. She wondered what he was thinking as he listened to her talk and laugh. She wondered what he thought as she lay there beside him, so close in proximity that if she were to just roll over some she would be on top of him...

"We should probably get some sleep."

Daryl's words interrupted her train of thought and with it, the quiet moment that they had shared was suddenly over and the spell was broken. All too quickly she was leaning over and turning off the lamp and they both rolled over to have their backs facing each other and they were both mumbling words of 'goodnight' before they drifted off to sleep.

But even if nothing really had happened at all, deep down, Beth felt like it had. Something between them was beginning to switch and change. Daryl was starting to look at her in a different way.

She could see the changes in him already - they were so blatantly obvious, really. The way he was talking more, smiling and even laughing more. His eyes were always dancing with emotion when he saw her for the first time in a while and he was touching her more, too - playful nudges and pushes and tugs of her hair.

As she thought it over, her heart began to pound harder and harder in her chest. Beth was sure that he could hear it. But if her could, he never said anything. As she thought to herself about the way things were changing between them, she couldn't help but smile. She bravely rolled over so that she was lay on her back and inched her hand closer and closer to his where it was dropped lazily at his side.

Beth tentatively reached out and slowly interlaced her fingers with his, keeping them still for a few beats. She let out a shaky breath when she felt him stir beside her, but then he gave her hand a little squeeze and tightened his own grip on her and Beth suddenly felt like she was floating.

She wondered if she was dreaming, but then she felt his thumb dance across the back of her hand, and she knew that she wasn't.

This was far too good to be a dream.


	13. Chapter 13

The first thing that Beth noticed when she woke up was that she was unusually warm.

She snuggled further into the sheets, a lazy smile spreading across her face as she enjoyed the heat. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realised that her head wasn't resting on her crisp white bed sheets.

Instead, her head was resting right in the middle of a certain Daryl Dixon's chest. Beth's blue eyes flew open and she heard him laugh lightly, his chest vibrating against her as he did so. It was a lovely sound; one she didn't get to hear from him often, and she savoured it in her mind.

"Comfy?"

Daryl's voice was playful, and she was relieved for that. Even though he had been noticeably more touchy-feely with her recently, Beth was still careful not to intrude in his personal space too much.

Yet here she was, her legs tangled around him, her hair trapped under his side, her hands still weaved in his and her head nestled on his chest.

Beth let out a little giggle of her own and looked at him before removing her hands from his and stretching out, rolling away from him as she did so. She immediately missed the warmth that he provided but she didn't want to over stay her welcome.

"Good morning," she said with a little yawn before she looked up at his face for the first time that day. She had seen those blue eyes in her dreams last night, and probably the night before that, and the night before that, too.

"G'mornin'," he replied.

"Are they awake yet?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Haven't heard 'em," he told her, and she nodded her head slightly at that.

Her bedroom curtains were drawn, but from the lack of light that filled her bedroom, Beth assumed that it was still quite early. She could probably afford to spend a few more minutes lounging around in bed before she got up to see to the children.

When she thought about it, this whole scenario was incredibly domestic. Falling asleep next to Daryl and waking up with her body curled around him was something she could defintely get used to, and she wasn't sure whether she should really feel like that. Beth was sure she wasn't just annoying him anymore - after all, he did kind of make an effort back with her, and if he really didn't want her around, he could just not show up. It wasn't like she had forced him to stay last night, or the time before.

And Beth recalled the fact that the first time he had come over for dinner, it had been more or less a date. Although she hadn't seen Jasmine in a few days to fill her in on everything that was going on, she had told her most of the situation, and Jasmine had insisted that Daryl was interested.

Apparently, he didn't speak to any of the other women in Alexandria unless they were members of the group he had arrived with. He, like Beth, was a bit isolated and kept himself to himself. When Jasmine had told her that there was no way that Daryl would bother with her if he wasn't interested in her in a way that was more than just friends, Beth hadn't been sure whether to be pleased or offended.

She knew that she was definitely interested in something more with him - how could she not be? Not when he spoke to her with that rough voice and touched her with big hands and strong arms. Not when he looked at her so gently with those pretty blue eyes and smiled at her in a way she hadn't seen him smile at anyone before.

The first time that they had met, Beth had thought him to be hard and quite cold.

Now, Beth thought him to be almost soft, and after the way she had woken up with him this morning, she knew he was far from cold.

"Y'alright?" Daryl asked her, looking at her with narrowed eyes.

Beth nodded her head sleepily as she stretched again, running a hand through her tangled blonde hair that had curled around itself once more.

"Yeah," she told him. "Just a bit tired still."

"Why don't ya go back to sleep for a few minutes?" Daryl suggested. "I'll go wake up Oli and Ari while you do."

"You wouldn't mind?" Daryl shook his head no and Beth offered him a kind smile.

"Thank you," she managed to say before her eyes drifted shut once more.

**xxxx**

When Beth opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, the first thing she noticed was how _good_ she felt. Her back wasn't as sore as it usually was, her eyes were actually fluttering open with ease and her brain wasn't telling her -_ pleading_ with her - that she needed more sleep.

Then she realised that it was far too late for her to be only just waking up.

Jumping up in bed, Beth catapulted out of the room and sprinted down the stairs towards the first floor of the house where Oliver and Ariella sleep. She pushed her head into both rooms but found them to be empty. Before she could reason with herself, panic erupted within her chest and she could feel her heart pounding with fear. Her hands were shaking and she knew it, and although there was a small voice in the back of her mind telling her to be rational and try and be reasonable, she couldn't help but feel like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

Her mind was racing on overdrive as the most horrible thoughts came to her.

What if they had gone to school by themselves and gotten lost? Or what if they had gone and ventured outside of the gate and she would never see them again? What if they had fallen and badly hurt themselves and were with Eugene in the clinic being stitched up right now?

"Mornin'," a low voice came from behind where she stood in the doorway of Oliver's bedroom. She hadn't heard anyone coming and the noise shocked her, causing her to jump and clutch her hand to her heart as she spun around quickly. "Should probably say afternoon. Think it's past twelve now."

"Daryl?" Beth asked. Her voice was shaking and she wondered if he could tell that she was at breaking point.

At first, Beth was surprised to see him there, looking at her as though she was the one who was insane. After all, this was her house and this was him standing there talking to her as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world and...

And it all came back to her after a few moments of confusion. She had been so worried about the children that she had completely forgotten about the guest that she had been entertaining last night.

Was Daryl even a guest anymore? It sounded weird even to her to think of him like that. He was a friend now, after all. But she had completely forgotten that he had stayed the night last night. And she vaguely remembered waking up when it was still dark out to find herself wrapped up in his arms and hearing his deep voice telling her to just get a few more minutes of sleep.

"I took 'em to school," Daryl told her, his brows pulling together as he looked over her with a puzzled expression. _Great,_ she thought. _Now he thinks I'm a psychopath._

"I hope ya don't mind. I did try to wake you but..."

"No, of course," she interrupted, talking quickly. "Sorry. Wow, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I wouldn't wake up." Beth laughed nervously as she talked, holding her head in her hands and shaking it from embarrassment. "No, no, I'm not annoyed or anything," she clarified, wondering if he thought that he had overstepped his place by taking them to school.

Daryl suddenly looked so unsure of himself in that moment and she felt so guilty for it.

"I just... I completely forgot that you had been here because I noticed that they weren't in bed and I was just worried that something awful had happened to them. I was just so worried. Wow," she breathed, her body still trembling slightly.

It was only then that Beth realised how crazy she must have looked.

Although she couldn't see her reflection in a mirror anywhere, she was more than aware of how tangled and bushy and wild her lengthy blonde hair always was in a morning and she was surprised that Daryl was actually looking at her without bursting into laughter at the birds nest that was resting messily on top of her head. Because if she could see herself now, she would probably laugh at how ridiculous she looked.

And then there was the pajamas. Well, the thin pieces of material that just about covered her up, but she may as well have been stood there wearing nothing. When Beth had gone to bed last night she hadn't put much thought into wearing a bra. But now that she was stood there absolutely freezing, she realised that it was definitely more than apparent that she had nothing on underneath her top.

Beth tried telling herself that it was only nipples and it wasn't like he could actually see them through the shirt, but she was absolutely mortified. She felt incredibly exposed and she knew that her face was burning bright red. She was grateful that Daryl didn't stare - in fact, he didn't seem to notice them at all.

Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe he couldn't even tell.

"Still wanna head on out?" Daryl asked after he cleared his throat, breaking the silence that fell between them. Beth nodded her head up and down several times after she came to her senses and recovered from her embarrassment.

She told him that she did want to and informed him that she would go and quickly get dressed since he had already gotten dressed hours before and that it would only take her five minutes. He told her not to rush and she smiled gratefully at him.

By the time Beth had combed her hair so that it fell down her back in loose curls and had pulled on a light blue dress that had a pink floral print decorated on it, she was pretty sure that she had been getting ready for longer than five minutes. Beth slid a pair of white pumps onto her feet and grabbed a denim jacket from her wardrobe before she made her way downstairs to find Daryl waiting for her in the living room.

He looked her up and down briefly before setting the book he had been reading down on the couch and asked her if she was ready. She nodded to him and asked him if he was ready, too, to which he just gave her a look that made her laugh for the first time that day.

Beth was calm now and felt much better after composing herself and getting changed from those ridiculous pajamas.

What had she been thinking, anyway? He probably wasn't even interested in her at all. What was she trying to do - seduce him with a pair of lilac shorts and a crop top?

But then Daryl's lips quirked upwards, too, and she was glad for it as she locked the door to the house and made her way down the porch steps.

"Oh!"

The sound of Beth gasping seemed to shock him and he stopped walking to turn around and look at her. Beth just looked dead on at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"I didn't even thank you for taking the children," she told him, disappointed in herself for being so rude.

He narrowed his eyes at her then and gave her a strange look.

"Don't need to thank me," he told her before he started walking again. She stood still for a moment before she set off after him, skipping slightly to try and catch up to him.

"Daryl," she groaned as he walked on. His legs were much longer than hers and he covered much more ground. Combined with the fast pace he was moving at, it made it extra difficult for her to match his pace. "Slow down! I can't keep up."

He laughed at that. Actually laughed out loud, and she couldn't help but grin at the sound. It was one she had heard from him more and more recently, but it still shocked her every time she heard it. It was such a pleasant sound and she always felt so proud when something she did or said elicited a real hearty laugh from him.

Daryl slowed his pace down slightly as they made their way through Alexandria and Beth was glad. Somewhere along the way, she felt brave enough to slip her hand into his and hold it as though it was the most normal thing in the world to do whilst they walked next to each other. He had tensed up at the contact at first and she saw him giving her the side eye for a brief moment as if contemplating what she was up to, but then she felt and saw him relax.

Daryl's grip even tightened a little bit around her hand and she smiled at that, but neither of them mentioned anything about it. They just carried on as normal, engaging in pointless conversation as they did so.

"Why didn't you wake me this mornin'?" Beth asked him after a few beats of silence passed between them.

For someone who didn't tend to like silences between people, Beth didn't really mind when it was quiet between the two of them. It was never awkward - instead, it was peaceful and calm and comfortable, really.

Daryl turned to face her as he walked, looking at her as though she were crazy.

"You were tired," he said simply. Beth tried not to smile at that.

"You didn't have to take them," she told him.

He nodded his head.

"It was a sweet thing to do," Beth continued. She was certain he was blushing now and he snapped his head away from her, breaking the intimate gaze they had been sharing. At some point, they had stopped outside the pantry where Beth had mentioned she needed to collect her rations of food from. Eventually, Daryl returned her gaze so that they had eye contact again, and she was surprised to see the hesitancy that was there.

Beth offered him a reassuring smile and squeezed the hand that she had been holding in her own.

"So thank you." Before he could look away again, Beth eased herself up onto her tiptoes and placed a small kiss onto his lips.

Her actions surprised herself, and as much as she wanted to have his lips against hers forever, she knew that if she had shocked herself, she had definitely shocked him. The last thing she wanted to do was make him run for the hills, so she pulled away gently and smiled up at him sweetly as though she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.

Beth wasn't sure what had made her do it.

His answer to her question was probably it, of course. _You were tired. _Daryl said it like it was nothing; like it was something that anybody would do for anyone else, but she knew that wasn't true. Beth knew that he understood that she worked hard and that she was always either at the clinic helping her patients or at home with the children and she appreciated the fact that he had let her sleep in for once and taken Oliver and Ariella for her. The last time she had slept in was when Jess had offered to take the twins to school and that itself hadn't been a lie in like the one she had had today.

So Beth had kissed him because in that moment it honestly felt like the right thing to do. It felt like the thing she wanted to do, and Beth wasn't sorry for kissing him, either. Although she had been questioning his attraction to her since she had admitted to herself a while ago that she was more than attracted to him, she had felt so confident and bold in that moment that nothing held her back.

It was something that she often felt around him. So sure of herself. Like the first night when she had invited him to stay over and had been so glad to wake up wrapped around him. Or when she had invited him to come again for dinner after that first night and she had been so happy when he turned up. Or today when she had slipped her hand in his so that they were walking the way couples did with their fingers intertwined.

Or now, when she had kissed him lightly on the lips the way that someone did when they were expressing their attraction for the other person.

The cat was out of the bag now, and if he had been unsure whether she liked him before (Beth wondered to herself if he ever wondered if she fancied him even just a little bit), he would be absolutely certain now.

Beth plopped back down onto the flats of her feet and gazed up at him with wide blue eyes, watching as a range of emotions that she couldn't quite decipher flashed across his face. He tilted his head down to her to look right into her eyes and she felt him give her a reassuring squeeze of her hand the same way she had to him moments earlier.

And then in the same way she had surprised herself, he surprised her by wrapping the hand that wasn't held in hers behind the back of her neck and it clutched at her blonde hair for a moment before pulling her face towards him. He was so much stronger than her and it didn't take much force at all for him to have her nose bumping against his.

Daryl gave her a few seconds of nothing, which she assumed was his way of waiting to see if she was going to back out or if she wanted this - and she really, really wanted this, so of course she wasn't going to back out.

In what felt like forever, but was in reality only seconds, Daryl had his lips pressed against hers and was giving her a kiss that was far more passionate and longing and forceful than hers had been. But Beth wasn't complaining. She sighed into his mouth when he opened up so that her tongue could sneak in and grind against his, and then all too soon he was pulling away and they were both panting and she was confused as to what he was doing.

But then he gave her a little smirk and pressed a tiny kiss to her hairline before leading her up the steps to the pantry, his hand never releasing hers. And Beth beamed up at him and didn't stop smiling the whole time they were in there choosing their food.

If things hadn't been changing before, they were definitely changing now.


	14. Chapter 14

"So, you and Daryl Dixon, huh?"

Beth rolled her eyes and tried her hardest not to smile as Jasmine sat on her desk, her feet swaying back and forth as she tucked into an apple. Beth busied herself around the office, tidying the paperwork away into cabinets and placing her books back on the bookcase.

"Come on, Beth. You've gotta tell me."

"Oh, I do, do I?" Beth said, her lips turning upwards slightly. Jasmine nodded her head matter of factly.

"You know you do. Besides, you know you want to."

Beth rolled her blue eyes and tried not to make it too obvious that Jasmine was right. Deep down Beth knew that the feeling of gushing about your crush to your best friend was almost a right of passage for girls and that gushing about how successful things were going with your crush was an even better feeling of achievement.

"Have you slept with him yet?" Jasmine probed. Beth's eyes widened and she turned around to meet the sight of a smirking redhead.

"What?" Beth shrieked, blushing furiously. "No!"

"So you've still got your v-card?" Jasmine asked with a giggle. Beth rolled her eyes once more.

"Please stop," Beth sighed.

"Come on, Beth. You're giving me nothin' here."

"What do you want to know?" Beth asked. Jasmine grinned at her.

"Everything."

So Beth told her.

Beth began by telling Jasmine about how Daryl had taken the children to school to give Beth a much needed lie-in. Beth was certain that she saw guilt creep up on Jasmine's features, but she didn't pause in her story. After all, her friend was the one who had been begging her to tell her everything.

So it was everything that she was going to get.

Beth went on to explain about the kiss and how she had been nervous at first, but then he had kissed her back and he kissed her so _good_. Jasmine squealed at that and Beth couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she gushed about how they had spent the afternoon running errands together, hand-in-hand the entire time, and how she had stolen so many kisses from him and how he never seemed to mind, even though she had expected him to.

She then went on to explain how they had bumped into the two constables Rick and Michonne who were from the group that Daryl arrived with, and she told Jasmine about how confused they had seemed to see Daryl holding hands with her.

"That's a good thing, right?" she asked, unsure. Jasmine nodded her head yes quickly.

"Of course," Jasmine told her with confidence. "He obviously doesn't do anything like that often or they wouldn't have looked so shocked, ya know? And it means that he's not, like, lying to you or fooling around or anything. I know it's the end of the world as we know it and all that jazz, but men can still be sneaky shits when they wanna be. If he was being sneaky he definitely wouldn't be holding your hand and kissing you out where anyone could see."

There was a sadness to Jasmine's tone that Beth tried her hardest to sympathise with, but deep down she wasn't sure she could feel so sorry for her friend when she knew what she was doing behind the back of a woman who seemed so kind and harmless.

So Beth tried not to think on it as she went on to tell Jasmine how he had asked his friend Carol who was also a teacher at the school to take the children home with her as he had promised to call round anyway so they got to relax and walk around town together just talking and kissing every now and then before they made their way to Carol's.

Beth explained how happy the children were to see them together and they had been asking if Daryl was going to take them to school again in the morning but he had explained that he had an important mission to go on - and how he had smirked at Beth as he said it - and wouldn't be able to, but how he promised he would do when he was back.

Jasmine raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"What?" Beth asked with a frown. Jasmine just shook her head.

"Nothing. That's good, too. He wouldn't make a promise like that to the kids if he wasn't gonna keep it. That means that he's planning on staying over again."

Beth's eyes widened in shock as she took in what her friend was telling her.

"Oh, my! You really think so?" She didn't even try and fight back her grin when Jasmine nodded her head confidently.

She then went on to tell Jasmine all about how Daryl had stayed for dinner and helped her clean up and get the children bathed and put into bed. Jasmine smiled so genuinely at that and Beth hoped more than anything that she really did like him, because whether she was always there for her children or not, they were still hers and Daryl was still helping Beth take care of them and she wanted Jasmine to approve of him if he was doing that.

It seemed like Jasmine did.

Beth finished by explaining how they had parted ways once it was darker than dark outside and Beth had wished that he could stay, but she hadn't told him that because she didn't want to seem to full-on. Daryl had given her a kiss that was so fiery and passionate and Beth had been certain that she was going to pass out afterwards, but she hadn't.

She had walked him to the door and told him to be safe when he was out with Aaron and he had promised her that he would be. And then he had told her to take care of herself and the children whilst he was gone and she promised him that she would before she wrapped him up in a tight hug.

Jasmine let out a sigh as Beth finished off explaining. As the girls had talked, Beth had ended up locking up the clinic and they had made their way towards their home where the twins were waiting for Beth. Carol had offered to look after them for her until she got home that evening, but Beth had told her that it was quite alright - the older woman next door always kept an eye on them for her anyway. Beth looked at Jasmine hesitantly as they stopped in front of the house.

"Are you going to come back home tonight?" Beth asked, her voice full of hope. Jasmine looked around the area for a long moment before turning back to face Beth.

"Yeah," she said. Her voice wasn't as confident as it usually was, but it was something.

Beth grinned at her as they made their way up the steps to the house together.

For the first time in a long time, Jasmine was finally home, and Beth wondered if things were going to carry on changing for the better.

**xxxx**

Beth screamed as she watch Deanna fall to the ground next to her husband whose throat had been cut open. Blood was violently pooling out around him and Beth couldn't help but wince at the sight.

So much had happened in the past four days. Some people were saying that Rick Grimes had lost his mind, but Beth didn't quite believe it. She had arrived at his trial that evening as listened intensely whilst Maggie explained that they had all seen things that the people in Alexandria couldn't understand and that Rick was trying his hardest to adapt - that the whole group were trying their hardest - but that it was difficult.

Beth understood and she had voiced that she didn't think Rick was all bad, either. Maggie had smiled at her appreciatively. Beth had tried talking her out of appearing at the trial and had told her that the stress was no good for the baby that she was now carrying, but Maggie had refused to listen to any of it. So Beth was more than relieved that things were quiet and peaceful at the trial.

But the peace didn't last very long.

It had all happened so quickly. The rotting corpse that had been walking around Alexandria had been thrown into the middle of the crowd and it had been such a long time since Beth had seen one - she remembered Daryl calling them _walkers_ \- and she was truly horrified.

The smell of death was a stench that she had hoped she wouldn't have to meet again for a very long time, but here it was, invading her nostrils and causing her to gag.

But then Beth was distracted when she was Jess' husband - the man that Jasmine had been sneaking around with - come up behind Rick and started shouting and cursing and yelling all sorts of accusations.

Beth had been told by some of her patients that his name was Pete and that he had been laying his hands on his wife and their son for quite some time now. Although Beth always insisted to her patients that she wasn't interested in gossip, she had been shocked to hear of it and had thought briefly about Jasmine.

_Had he been hurting her, too?_

And then Beth witnessed him being killed - was it_ murder,_ what Rick had done? - by being shot in the head and she couldn't help but slap her hand against her mouth at the sight. She was so relieved that Oliver and Ariella were tucked up in bed but then she was even more relieved when she looked up to meet a pair of familiar blue eyes that had been gone from her sight for _far_ too long.

As much as she wanted to rush out and pull him into a searing kiss and wrap her arms so tightly around him and beg him never to leave again, she didn't. She saw the desire in his eyes, too - felt it as he stared her down from across the way. But he made no attempt to move, either.

It was like they were all frozen on the spot - everyone who had witnessed the shocking events of the evening - and Beth wondered if Daryl was as surprised and horrified as she was at what had just happened before them all.

Beth wondered how much of it he had heard, how much he had seen. He was stood next to a man who definitely looked more than horrified, and the way he said Rick's name made her want to shudder. Beth didn't find it within her to wonder about who he was. She was too mortified by what she had just witnessed to think much about the stranger who stood next to the man she had been dreaming about for goodness knows how long. But she knew from the way he had said Rick's name that he wasn't a stranger to him, and she was pretty sure that that meant something. Maybe it was important.

Beth wasn't sure whether she cared or not.

But then Deanna was screaming at everyone to get back into their houses and to keep themselves safe for the night. The grieving woman was completely inconsolable and Rick quickly stepped in to take over. Even though he had explained to everyone who was around that he was absolutely positive that he had destroyed all of the dead that had come in through the gate that Father Gabriel had left open, he still was unsure and thought it best for everyone to lock their doors and turn out their lights and keep an eye and an ear out for any of the undead who could be roaming around the town. Beth shuddered at the thought and tried to push it away. The idea was unpleasant and she didn't want it to linger in her mind.

Beth returned home with Jasmine, who was strangely quiet for once. Beth didn't know what to say to her. She was sure that her friend would be bothered about the death of her lover, but she wasn't sure what words were appropriate right now. They were both in a state of shock - horrified and surprised by what they had both witnessed - and more than anything, Beth thought that Jasmine would want to be alone.

Unlike her best friend - her sister - Beth didn't want to be alone. She busied herself with removing her clothes and getting into her silk light pink nightdress that fell at her mid-thighs. She dumped her dirty clothes into the wash basket at the end of her bed and then went and sat at her vanity table and brushed a comb through her hair over and over and over again, looking dead set at her blue eyes in the reflection as she did so. After what had to have been at least twenty minutes passed by, she eventually parted ways from the table and crawled into bed, flicking the light off on her way in.

It didn't take long for Beth to accept the fact that she probably wasn't going to sleep tonight. She lay there in the darkness staring up at the ceiling of her room, her mind on overdrive as she played over the events of the evening in her mind on repeat. Beth wasn't sure how any of it had happened, but so much had gone on and she briefly wondered how any of them would come back from any of this.

She had been lay in bed for over an hour when the sound of a door creaking open met her ears, but Beth didn't flinch. She sat up in her bed slowly and looked to where her curtains were being drawn open as a figure moved through them, closing the door quietly behind them.

"Daryl?" she asked into the darkness, although she was sure she didn't need to. Beth just knew it would be him.

"Yeah," he whispered back to her as he made his way over to the bed. "It's me."

Beth let out a shaky breath and pushed the covers back so that he could make his way into bed next to her. She felt the mattress dip under his weight as he sat on the end of it and removed his jacket and boots before he made his way up next to her.

So many things had been keeping her awake, but the second she felt his presence next to her, she suddenly felt very calm and very sleepy. Beth didn't hesitate to fling herself around him as soon as he lay himself down next to her. She clutched to him as she held him tightly, her chin resting under his head and her arms wrapping themselves around his waist.

"Easy," he chuckled, his chest rumbling against her face. But Beth didn't let up on her tight grip of him. Daryl had to put his arms behind his back and guide her hands away from him.

Embarrassment washed over her, but it quickly faded when he re-positioned them so that she was lying on her side, facing away from him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back towards him so that her body was pressed tightly against his. Daryl's palm rested lazily on her stomach whilst his other arm snuck under her head, acting as a pillow for her.

Beth let a smile grace her features when he kissed the back of her neck over and over.

"I missed you," she whispered, her voice shaking slightly as she held back a sob. It was only now as he was holding her that she acknowledged just how much she had missed him and how much she had wanted him there. And then she realised just how frightened she had been all night and how she felt so safe now that he was there.

But Daryl didn't say anything, just grunted slightly as he put one final kiss on her shoulder. It was comforting.

"I'm _so_ glad you're home."

He didn't acknowledge that statement, either, but Beth didn't mind. She didn't expect him to, and part of her didn't want him to. All she wanted was for him to know that she had missed him these past four days - because honestly, she had done - and let him know how worried she had been, too. Because every day she worried and wondered.

It was impossible for her not to think about him when she actually knew that he was around and that he was as safe as he could be, so it was understandably even more difficult to push him away from her mind when he was away from her and out there in the open where anything could happen.

Daryl let out a deep breath behind her nuzzled himself into her hair. Beth felt him inhaling the scent of her and she couldn't help but grin when she realised that although this wasn't the first time they had cuddled together so intimately, it was the first time they had ever gone to sleep and actively snuggled close together instead of falling asleep on different sides of the bed and waking up tangled as one.

Although it had been a rough few days and although it had been a horrible night filled with awful revelations and death, Beth was happy to fall asleep wrapped in the safety of his arms.

Even if she knew that he would wake her up tomorrow with a lecture about leaving the doors to her balcony unlocked. She would have to let him know that she never usually did that, but that night she had just known that he was going to show up here. And he must have known that she knew he would turn up and that she would leave them open for him otherwise what would he have done - smashed the glass and made his way in anyway?

Beth pondered it for a moment and entertained the thought that maybe he actually would do that, just so that they could fall asleep together like this.

It was a soothing thought, one that she fell asleep dreaming of. She had a feeling things would be alright so long as he was there.


	15. Chapter 15

Keeping track of the date by crossing off days on a calendar was something Beth had done ever since she arrived in Alexandria. She had many important dates scribbled onto it and she made herself a new one each year. Beth always decorated the calendars with drawings and got the twins to colour it in as brightly as possible for her, and they never disappointed.

Beth always got making the calendars around December, and that was a while away yet. She added important dates as she remembered them, and she had recently added Daryl's birthday to her calendar as August 3rd. Her own fell on September 12th and Jasmine's on December 21st. Oliver and Ariella's birthday fell on June 15th, and if she didn't know that it was only a week and a half away by checking the date on the calendar, she was sure she would have known simply due to the scalding heat.

The weather was awful. Horrific, really. The heat was completely unbearable and the thunder storms that came along with it at all hours of the day were unpleasant.

Actually, unpleasant really wasn't the word. Beth preferred terrifying, but she didn't want to admit that to anyone out loud. Oliver and Ariella coped with the thunder and lightning better than she did, and they were nearly five years old.

To say they coped better was probably an understatement.

Beth shrieked every time the thunder rumbled ahead whilst Oliver asked his sister whether she heard that and how loud was that and isn't that amazing? And Ariella would giggle and tell her brother that it was the loudest thing she had ever heard.

Beth whimpered and jumped every time the room she was in lit up from bright strikes of lightning forcefully thumping against the ground some way away, but it always seemed far too close for her liking. But whilst Beth cowered at the thought of lightning, the twins seemed to always shout "Cool!" in unison and ramble on about how bright it was and how powerful it was and how it could actually cook someone, as in literally burn them alive.

Beth shuddered at the thought.

"Y'alright?"

Beth's head snapped round quickly and all thoughts of thunderstorms and lightning frazzling her alive melted away when she caught a glimpse at a pair of familiar blue eyes. She hadn't heard him come in, but then again, she never did. Daryl was always so quiet and careful and she figured that the only time she heard him was when he wanted her to. He was so much more graceful than she could ever imagine being.

Beth offered him a bright smile and nodded her head in answer to his question.

"Yeah," she breathed as he made his way to stand next to her where she was stood on the balcony. "Better, now," she admitted, and he smirked a little. "Are you?"

Daryl nodded his head and leaned his arms against the wooden pillars that decorated the edges of the balcony. He narrowed his eyes and looked across the part of the town that he could see from where they were stood. Beth watched him take everything in for a moment and then she let out a breath of relief when he looked away, seemingly satisfied with what he saw.

Beth wasn't ever sure what he saw when he looked out from her balcony. On the second floor of the house, it was some height up and if she really wanted to, she could see a lot of things from up here. But Beth wasn't the nosey type and she usually left people to do things for themselves without her interruption, and it didn't feel right for her to come and use the balcony to spy on people's private lives.

That wasn't what Daryl was doing when he looked over her balcony, though, and she knew it. She knew that he was checking for something - for a threat, or a danger, or something to indicate to him that something was wrong. He checked out here a lot - usually before they went to bed if he stayed the night, sometimes during the middle of the day, like now. Sometimes first thing in the morning, before Beth had to head out to work.

Daryl was very protective of her, whether her would admit it or not. Beth didn't mind it. It wasn't so bad having someone who cared enough about her to look out for her and make sure that everything was safe for her. Someone to make sure that she was alright and that she would be OK, even if she was on her own. Beth had come to accept a long time ago that Daryl spoke more with his actions than his words. Whilst she would happily tell him everything that she felt, he much preferred to show her - and that was fine by her.

"I didn't think you were coming over today," Beth told him when they were in the kitchen. She pulled out some cookies that she had made with the twins the evening before and pushed them in his direction. He mumbled a thanks before shoving a whole biscuit in his mouth.

Beth didn't even try and act surprised at his poor table manners anymore. She remembered that Daryl had actually kind of tried to use them the first time he ever came to dinner, but the more comfortable he got with her, the sloppier he got, too. Beth tried not to scold him for it that much - from the tidbits he had revealed to her, he hadn't had the best upbringing, so she couldn't really blame him for always eating like it was his last meal, or using his hands instead of a knife and fork. But she tried to gently remind him from time to time that it wasn't a bad idea to use utensils and that it was seen as the polite thing to do.

He usually just narrowed his eyes at her and got back to eating the way he had been before. Sometimes he made an effort to be a bit more clean when he ate. It usually happened when the twins ate with them. That's when Beth drew the line and told him that she didn't want them picking up bad habits from him and thinking it was funny to eat like animals.

Beth knew he thought that she was crazy - he had told her so many times when she had warned him about it - but she was glad that he did try to tone it down whenever the children were around.

"Wasn't gonna," he told her after he had swallowed the cookie. "Can't really stay long, 'cause I've got things to do. Thought I'd visit for a while... thought ya might be a bit bored."

"I am," she pouted as she passed him a drink. "I've been planning their birthday party, but it's gettin' real difficult now I think about it. I've been tryna figure out how to make them a cake, but I don't think I'll be able to get the extra eggs for it."

"Why not?" he asked, frowning. She shrugged her shoulders.

"The ladies at the pantry are a bit... snooty," Beth explained, struggling for words to describe what she meant. "I don't think they like me very much."

"Why?" Daryl frowned even more at that, and Beth couldn't help but want to laugh a little at his unhappy expression.

"I don't know," she answered him honestly. "They're just always lookin' at me funny, and laughin' at each other when I say things. I don't mind it much, it's just frustrating, more than anythin'. I'm surprised you've never noticed before."

There had been a few occasions when Daryl had accompanied Beth to the pantry so that she could collect her rations of food and he his, but now that she thought about it, they had always been a lot nicer to her whenever Daryl came along with her. She told him so, too, and he shrugged his shoulders at that.

"Guess I'll have to come with ya more, then," he said matter-of-factly. Beth grinned at him at that and leaned over the island to press a quick kiss to his lips.

They had become a lot more relaxed around one another as the weeks passed on, and Beth was glad to see that they were really forming a strong bond. She didn't know what they were doing - whether they were dating or together or still floating around as just friends. Beth had been to Daryl's house a few times, but they spent most of their time at her place still due to the fact that Jasmine couldn't quite make up her mind as to whether she wanted to be there to look after her children or not.

Daryl was understanding and accepting of the situation and never once complained about the fact that they often didn't get to spend time alone unless the children were at school or in bed. He was so good with them, and the twins absolutely adored him. Beth couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous at how much they enjoyed spending time with him. They were always asking about him - where he was, if he was going to bath them instead of Beth and if he was going to be there for dinner that evening and if he was going to take them to school.

Beth knew that they didn't mean to hurt her feelings, and she was more than pleased that they enjoyed spending time with Daryl, but sometimes she felt a little disheartened and unappreciated. Beth loved spending time with them both equally, but it seemed like they never really wanted to spend time with her anymore.

She knew that she was boring and nowhere near as cool and fun and interesting as Daryl, who had plenty of stories that he could tell them and plenty of things that he could show them how to do. He knew so much about everything and they always listened to him with wide eyes and little to no interruptions.

Daryl snorted at her when she said it to him as they sprawled out across her couch.

"They love ya," he told her, and she nodded her head.

"I think this must be how it feels to be mother," she responded with a heavy sigh. "Feeling like you're not fun enough. They never wanna play with me anymore or do anything with me. They just see me as the person who cleans them and feeds them and gets them dressed for school in the morning."

"S'more important than bein' someone they play with," Daryl told her, a serious expression on his face. Beth dipped her head and blushed slightly.

"I guess," she said, not sounding convinced. "It's just hard, ya know? They're growing up so fast, too. I just wish they would stay small for me. Part of me wants 'em to grow up, 'cause they learn so much and they're so clever and they teach me so much about myself and about the world that I never even knew before they existed. But part of me wants them to stay little and need me forever."

"I think most mom's feel like that about their babies," Daryl told her with a shrug of his shoulders. Beth bit her lip for a moment.

"I'm not their mama, though," she sighed. Daryl cocked his head at her.

"Nah," he admitted. "You're better than that."

Beth couldn't help but smile up at him for that.

"You're right," she agreed. As much as she hated herself for saying it, it was the truth. He was right. "And you're not their father. You're better than that, too."

Daryl was quiet for a long moment.

"You ever tell 'em much about their pa?" he asked.

Beth shook her head no. She never really was sure what to tell them. In all honesty, they never really asked. Not yet, anyway. Beth thought they were too young, and it wasn't like everyone at the school had both parents who were alive. A lot of them had lost at least one of their parents whilst some of the children had lost both. It was a cruel fact but it was a fact nonetheless, and Beth was glad that at least Oliver and Ariella had their mother.

Even if they only had her every now and then.

"He wasn't the best guy in the world," Beth admitted. She had never really told Daryl much about him. She scooted closer across the couch and turned sideways, leaning her head against his shoulder. Daryl moved his arm so that she could lie down next to him more comfortably before he rested it on her hip, tracing circles against her skin where her top had ridden up ever so slightly.

Beth let out a content sigh as she breathed him in. She wasn't sure how they had got to where they were right now, but for once, she tried not to over-think things. They were here and they were alive and they were happy. That was all that mattered.

"What was he like?" Daryl asked.

He had been surprising Beth lately by not only being more open about himself, but by being more open when they had conversations about other things. He always made an effort now to ask her questions and to learn more about the stories she told. Beth appreciated his efforts and always tried her hardest to let him know that she knew he was trying.

Beth always rewarded his questions with answers, which sometimes got her silence and sometimes got her more questions. It depended on the context, but she tried not to hold back whenever he asked her something. Daryl always seemed genuinely interested in whatever she had to say, though - the same way she was always interested when he told her things.

They were learning together. Beth thought it was nice.

"He was..." Beth paused for a moment, unsure of where to begin. "You know what? He wasn't really that bad, all in all. I mean... he wasn't real nice to Jasmine, but I kinda think that that's what she liked about him, y'know? He never called her by her name, but I think he knew it."

Daryl scoffed at that.

"Always had some stupid nickname for her, like sweetcheeks or sugarmuffin or just something silly. Called her Lil Red a lot. You know, 'cause of her hair? I don't even know. He was at Woodbury for a while and was real close to the Governor, kinda like his right hand muscle man in a way. I think Jasmine liked that he was a bit of a bad boy... Always real rude and nasty to people, but always laughin' and fooling around, too."

Daryl stopped tracing his hand on her hip but she ignored it as she carried on with her story.

"I don't really remember much about him, 'cause I never really had to ever be alone with him or anything, so it's not like we really bonded or whatever. Even after Jasmine fell pregnant, he never really came round to the apartment where we stayed. It was always her going to him. Sometimes I don't know whether she did it on purpose... Y'know, getting pregnant. I think she told herself that she loved him, and I don't know if she did or if she didn't, but she kinda accepted the fact that we had to go when I told her we did. The Governor was losin' it, and her knight in shining armor kept telling her that he wasn't gonna stick around forever. Had a brother he was looking for, or somethin' like that, and that he wasn't too fussed whether she was pregnant or not."

Daryl shifted away from her slightly so that he could look down at her for a long moment. She blinked up at him, a gentle smile on her face.

"I think I'm making him sound awful," she sighed. "He wasn't. Not really."

There was another few beats of silence, and for once, Beth actually felt uncomfortable. It wasn't the usual silence that hung between them both. No, there was a weight to this silence. Something was off and she knew it.

"What did he look like?" Daryl finally said. Beth shrugged her shoulders.

"Kinda tall," was the first thing she thought to say. "He was bald, too. And believe it or not, he only had one hand," she chuckled. "Wow, how'd I forget that? He had a knife stuck onto it and everything. I think he thought it made him look pretty bad ass."

Silence hung between them again and Beth was certain that she would be able to hear a pin drop it was that quiet. Daryl wasn't looking at her anymore and she once again felt very uneasy. Beth tried to think of anything that would fill the silence.

"His name was Merle," she finally said.

The second she spoke, Daryl shot off the couch and left the room. Beth sat on the couch in shock, confused by his sudden departure. She scrambled to her feet and followed him into the hall where he was putting his boots back on.

"Daryl?" she asked, her brows furrowed and lips parted. He turned around and stared at her in a way he never had before. Beth narrowed her eyes slightly, looking him up and down before speaking again. "Are you alright?"

"M'fine," he spat out, tying up his laces. "Gotta get goin'. Told ya I couldn't stay long."

"Alright," Beth breathed, taking a step closer to him. "I'll see you later, then-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because he had slammed the door behind him on his way out. Beth frowned after him, shaking her head in confusion as she backed away and went back into the living room. Beth checked the time and noticed that she would have to go and collect the children from the school very soon, but she was far too distracted by replaying the strange events of the last few minutes over and over in her head.

_What on earth just happened?_

* * *

**I'm not sure whether anyone else saw this coming, because I was pretty sure I was making it a bit obvious... Well done to you if you guessed it! If not then I hope that's a credit to my writing skills because I really didn't want to give it away too much, but... idek. **

**I wasn't really sure how to have Daryl react but I figured he would make a run for it and get the chance to clear his head after Beth just dropped that one on him. I probably won't update this until tomorrow now since I told myself I would get some work done but instead I've just spent the last hour writing this chapter...**

**I just can't leave these two alone.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	16. Chapter 16

It was exactly four days until Beth saw Daryl again.

The first day was strange. Beth went back to work at the clinic and dove into her daily duties as normally as she possibly could, trying her hardest not to get distracted with thoughts of Daryl. She was unsure of why he had ran off on her so suddenly the night before, but she tried her hardest not to dwell on it - especially whilst she was working. But the whole time she was seeing to her patients, Beth's mind couldn't help but drift.

Little reminders of him were everywhere. In the way people walked, the way that they talked, the way that they smelt. Beth even thought of him when she watched the way Eugene ate his apple so neatly because Daryl would never eat an apple like that and it was probably crazy for her to think that, but she couldn't help it.

The second day was worse because she wasn't working. Beth usually spent some part, if not most (or occasionally all) of her days off with Daryl, and it was weird not spending time with him. Beth reminded herself on her vow not to over think things and she shrugged her shoulders - literally - and told herself that if Daryl wanted to see her, he would come and find her. He knew where she lived and he had wandered in enough times to know that he was more than welcome to drop by whenever he pleased.

It had never stopped him before, and Beth wasn't sure what was stopping him now, but she decided that he must need some personal space and that's why he left her alone. She welcomed Oliver and Ariella as constant distractions and made an effort to be especially playful with them that evening. By the time she was ready for bed after she had cooked them their tea, baked cookies with them and ate said cookies with them, played tag with them in the garden, bathed them, played charades and read them each a story before bed, Beth was exhausted.

She collapsed into her bed and closed her eyes and found that she drifted into her dreams a lot easier than she had the night before. This whole keeping busy idea had been excellent, and she made a mental note to keep at it.

The third day was worse than the first and the second because she was now openly admitting to herself that she missed him. Beth missed everything about him and it felt so wrong knowing that he wasn't even far away from her - he was somewhere within the walls of Alexandria, wandering about - and yet she still missed him so much. They had been apart for longer than this several times before, but that was when he was out on runs and when he was away, not when he was so close by.

On the third day, Beth vowed that she wouldn't crack and that she would stay put in her home. When she came back from a long day at work, which included an appointment with Maggie that had overran by almost a hour, Beth busied herself with the twins once more. But whilst that tactic had worked the day before, it didn't work that evening.

"When will Daryl visit again, Beth?"

It had been an innocent question and one that Beth had been expecting, if she had been honest with herself. But it still didn't make it any easier to hear from the sweet voice of her niece and it still didn't make it any easier to answer, either.

"Soon."

Beth hoped that that was the truth. She didn't think that Daryl would make her lie to Ariella. No - she knew that he wouldn't; and he would know deep down that the children were asking about him and he would also know that she would tell them that they could see him very soon. She wondered if he thought much about them. She wondered even more if he thought much about her.

That night was very restless and Beth didn't get much sleep at all.

On the fourth day, Beth was practically dead on her feet when she dropped the twins off at school. Carol asked her if she was alright, to which she promised she was, but the older woman didn't look like she believed her. Beth was just glad that she didn't push it any further.

When Beth returned home that morning she got the shock of her life to walk into her home and find Daryl Dixon sprawled out across the main couch in her living room. Beth actually shrieked at the sight of him because she had been so surprised and he had caught her off guard and she wasn't sure who exactly she had thought it was, but she definitely hadn't thought it was him and she had gone into panic mode almost immediately.

Daryl looked at her with sad eyes and she instantly felt the urge to comfort him. Despite the fact that he had left her hanging and so upset that she couldn't even concentrate on important things like planning Oliver and Ariella's birthday party or actually listening to everything her patients were telling her during their appointments. Beth was such a highly praised doctor and everyone was impressed that she never usually needed to even so much glance at a text book in order to diagnose a problem.

For the past two working days, all Beth had done was flick through textbooks.

"Daryl," Beth said when she finally calmed down, clutching tightly at the arm of the couch closer to her. Her other hand was positioned over her heart which was beginning to slow down with its loud thumping. Daryl looked up at her and once again she felt the urge to run to him and pull him into a hug. But she didn't, because she wasn't sure if he realised how confused and hurt he had left her for the past four days.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting herself down on the couch opposite his.

Daryl's blue eyes never left hers as he spoke.

"We need to talk."

**xxxxx**

Beth rushed into an unfamiliar room and bumped straight into an unfamiliar chest. An unfamiliar face stared down at her and she offered them an uneasy smile. Beth apologised for hitting them and the stranger just sneered at her - actually _sneered_ \- and asked her what she wanted.

In that moment, Beth wished she had accepted Daryl's offer to come with her. He wouldn't let anybody talk to her like that. She actually doubted that anyone would talk to her like that if he was around.

Beth got the feeling that as much as the man in front of her liked to act all nasty and rude, he wasn't anywhere near as horrible as the women who worked handing out rations of food in the pantry, and Daryl's presence had even made them take more of a liking to Beth than usual.

The man asked Beth what she wanted, and Beth was caught off guard by his gruff tone before she informed him that she was here to see her sister.

"Who?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. Beth fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Jasmine." The stranger nodded his head once and called out her sister's name before glaring at Beth once more and making his way outside. Beth smiled in relief when she saw Jasmine walk round the corner, and she complied as her best friend ushered her into her office.

It had been a very long time since Beth had visited Jasmine at work. She was probably talking years. But nothing much had changed in Jasmine's work space and Beth was shocked to see the same old Polaroid pictures of the girls splashed out across the room. Jasmine just smiled knowingly at her.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Bethany?" Jasmine teased.

Beth pushed down the lump in her throat and took in a deep breath before she responded. She reminded herself to stay calm and collected and not to break down. Beth was confused and annoyed and her head was pounding something rotten. She felt awful about leaving Daryl to collect Oliver and Ariella from the school, but she had a lot to tell them, too. Deep down, Beth knew that the right thing to do was to tell Jasmine the truth, but it was hard.

Jasmine didn't even like hearing, never mind saying, his name. Come to think of it, Beth wasn't sure when the last time she heard her say his name was. Probably before the birth of the twins.

But had it really been that long?

"It's Daryl," Beth began, nipping on her bottom lip with her teeth before she took in another deep breath. Jasmine was looking at her with a very confused expression.

"Is he alright?" Jasmine asked tentatively, clearly unsure of where their conversation was going. Beth almost wanted to laugh at how much her friend was in the dark about the situation.

How did Jasmine not even know the surname of the man who was the father of her children?

"He's just fine," Beth told her with a breezy smile. "He's also the uncle to your twin babies."

Silence filled the room.

Beth wasn't sure why she had broken the news like that. On her way over there, Beth had thought out exactly what she was going to say and how and she had also planned a dozen responses from Jasmine that she could handle.

Although they were closer than close, Beth still couldn't quite predict just how Jasmine would take all of this. She could only hope that she would cope well with the news.

"What?"

Jasmine's voice was strained and Beth was shocked to hear her stutter on the one worded answer. Beth wasn't sure whether she had ever heard Jasmine stutter. Jasmine was always so confident and knew all of the right things to say. Jasmine was never shocked at anything, never really caught off guard.

Well, Beth had been thinking that a lot of things were changing recently. She guessed this was just another one of those things.

"Daryl," Beth tried to explain, racking her memory to find bits and pieces of the speech she had been practicing on the short walk over from her house, but she couldn't find them. Instead, she opened her mouth and hoped for the best. "His brother. Merle. Merle is - was - Daryl's older brother."

Silence passed between them again.

"How do you know?"

Jasmine's question was dripping in suspicion and Beth tried her hardest to explain everything to her in as much detail as she possibly could, particularly the events of that day.

_After Beth had placed a cup of iced tea in front of him, she shot him an uneasy look._

_"What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked. _

_Daryl hesitated for a moment and Beth was sure that he was trying to find the right words to say to her. About what, she wasn't sure._

_"Oliver and Ariella," he finally said. Beth raised a brow at him but stayed quiet whilst he cleared his throat, averting eye contact with her. "And their pa."_

_That caught her off guard. Beth felt her blue eyes widen slightly at his words but she tried to put on her best poker face._

_"Merle?" she asked. Daryl visibly flinched at the name. "What about him?" _

_Beth was using her soft tone now as she tried to ease the response out of him. Daryl had been acting so strangely these past few days by avoiding her and leaving her unsure of what she had done to offend him or hurt his feelings. And now here he was, being even more confusing than he had been when he wasn't here. Beth couldn't keep up._

_"S'my brother," Daryl finally choked out. Beth just stood still on the spot, completely confused._

_"What?" she asked. Daryl's pained light blue eyes met hers once again._

_"Merle," he said the name once more, as if he were testing out the taste of it on his own tongue. "He's - he was - is - my brother. Merle is my brother." _

_Beth shook her head and backed into the kitchen island, shock apparent on her features._

_B_

_She emphasised the last word. Beth had so many questions for him and she didn't even know where to begin. _

_"Sit down," Daryl instructed. Beth obeyed, her wide eyes never drifting too far from his. _

_She couldn't help but wonder what in the world was going on. _

Jasmine was quiet as Beth relayed the information onto her. Beth was unsure of how Jasmine might take it all, but she seemed to be coping well so far.

She hadn't lashed out at the mention of his name. That had to count for something.

But then she looked up at Beth with big brown eyes that looked so vulnerable and Beth thought that between them, Jasmine and Daryl along with their big sad eyes were going to be the death of her.

"What are we going to do?" Jasmine asked.

Beth answered the question as honestly as she could in that moment.

"I don't know."

And truthfully, she didn't. What was there to do? It wasn't like they needed to arrange for Oliver and Ariella to meet their Uncle.

Gosh, that sounds weird, Beth thought.

"I think we need to tell them," Beth finally said. "Oli and Ari, I mean."

Jasmine nodded.

"You tell them," she practically whispered, and Beth shook her head no.

"No, Jasmine, you have to -"

"I don't have to do anything," Jasmine said, stressing each syllable of every letter when she spoke. Beth was shocked by her tone but she didn't say anything about it.

"I know, I know," she eventually tried. "That's not what I meant. I just think that-"

"No," Jasmine dismissed her with ease. "No. I'm not doing this."

Beth couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Jasmine," she half-growled. "Please. Don't do this."

"No," Jasmine said once again. "I can't do it, Beth. I can't do it. You need to leave."

"But -"

"No!"

Jasmine's voice was raised now and before Beth knew what was happening, she was being shoved out of the room and the door was slamming in her face and she was stood on her own, completely separated from her sister.

Beth suddenly began to regret telling her anything in the first place.

"Jasmine, please, you have to listen to me. I know that it's hard - I'm still in shock, too, and so's Daryl - but you have to help me with this. I can't do it on my own. They need their mother right now and they need you to be there when we tell them."

Beth was only met with silence for a moment after her last words, but after a few beats, Jasmine finally spoke up.

"That's not true, Beth, and you know it." Beth knew that Jasmine was crying from the way her voice was breaking when she spoke and it hurt more than anything to hear her best friend breaking down on the opposite side of a wooden door.

"They don't need me. They need _you._"


	17. Chapter 17

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I'm glad that from the reviews I received last chapter that people aren't too fond of Jasmine's behaviour. I'm not, either, and I don't know whether I really want her to be likeable. Originally I was thinking about having her as Maggie because some of Maggie's behaviour towards Beth really got on my nerves but I like the Maggie/Glenn pairing too much and I think all of this would be OOC for Maggie. **

**This is a long chapter and it feels like it took me forever to write it, so I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Beth grinned wickedly as Daryl threw her onto her back on the bed, watching as he crawled his way up to her before kissing her firmly on the lips. She moaned into his mouth and deepened the kiss by pushing her tongue against his, smirking ever so slightly as she felt the evidence of his arousal pressing against her thigh.

Daryl snaked one of his legs between hers and she gasped at the pressure. Beth ground her hips into him as he nipped at her bottom lip before trailing kisses up her jaw, leading a trail towards her earlobe. Beth wrapped her palms around the top button of his shirt and fumbled with it until it popped open. He helped her along and it wasn't long until she was pushing the fabric from his shoulders and admiring his bare chest with kisses of her own.

Beth wasn't entirely sure how they had gotten like this. She hadn't ever done anything more than kiss him and she was far from experienced in this department. Beth had been young and mostly innocent when the dead first began to rise and there hadn't been much opportunity for her to settle down with anyone when she was trying to concentrate on just making it through each day alive.

Somewhere in that mix, Jasmine had decided that she could find someone who she could (potentially) settle down with and even sprung it upon her that she was starting a family. After Jasmine's breakdown, Beth took over the nurturing maternal figure in the lives of Oliver and Ariella. Nobody was interested in the girl who was either working or looking after two twins who weren't even hers.

Nobody except Daryl, at least.

And she guessed that was how she ended up here.

Beth wasn't sure when her tee shirt had joined his on the floor, and she wasn't sure when they had gotten under the covers, either. Beth also wasn't sure when she had started unbuckling his belt, but she was suddenly aware of him unbuttoning her jeans and pulling down the zipper and without coherent thought she was pushing her hips upward to help him along.

He reconnected their mouths and Beth moaned again and again as he kissed her. She briefly wondered whether she was dreaming, because this was far too good to be true.

But then the sound of her bedroom door being pushed open and the sudden feel of Daryl flying away from her faster than she had ever seen him move before brought her back down to reality.

Yeah, that had _definitely_ been too good to be true.

"Beth?"

Beth let out a shaky sigh at the sound of the timid voice. She was counting her lucky stars that her curtains had remained drawn throughout the whole of the day so that no light from outside could seep into her room.

She was also incredibly glad that neither Daryl or herself had been distracted enough from each other to think to flick the bedside lamp on, because that would expose more of them to an almost five year old boy than they would prefer.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Beth said as she quietly pulled the fly of her jeans back up. She could feel Daryl shuffling beside her and then he was passing her his shirt to cover up her body with and she wished that he could see her grateful smile in that moment.

"I can't sleep," Oliver said. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Beth nudged closer to Daryl in order to make room from their new guest. She invited him over and patted the space on the bed next to her and Oliver crawled in happily beside her.

Beth began stroking his hair and started to sing to him in a low voice.

_"Hello my only one, just like the morning sun you keep on rising 'til the sky knows your name. Hello my only one, remember who you are, no you're not perfect but you're not your mistakes."_

It was times like these when Beth wondered whether Oliver really wanted her to comfort him or whether he missed his mother and longed for her reassurance instead. The twins didn't ask for her much anymore. Beth supposed that they were probably tired of hearing that she was very busy working and that she missed them very much.

She was tired of it, too.

_"And when you cry, I will cry, and when you smile, I will smile, and next time when I look in your eyes we'll have wings and we'll fly._

_Hello my only one, just like the morning sun you keep on rising 'til the sky knows your name. Hello myonly one, remember who you are, no you're not perfect but you're not your mistakes."_

Oliver was sound asleep and snoring by the time that Beth finished the song that she had sang to him and his sister since they were tiny to try and comfort them or get them to sleep. She ran her fingers through his light brown hair that was in desperate need of a trim for a few more moments before rolling over to face Daryl.

She could barely see his outline in the darkness.

"Hey," she whispered, hoping he was awake.

"Hey," he whispered back, snaking his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. Beth breathed him in for a moment before lifting her head up slightly to kiss him on the cheek. She felt his lips turn upwards and even though she knew he wasn't outright grinning, she was still pleased that she could bring a smile to his lips just by doing something so simple.

"That could have been really dangerous," Beth giggled. She felt Daryl squeeze her shoulder playfully.

"Don't have to tell me, girl," he whispered to her. A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them both before he spoke again. "Need to be more careful."

"You don't say?" Beth grinned into his ear. He nudged her a little bit and she took the hint, resting her head on his chest with a happy sigh. As mortified as she had been that they had been disturbed by her nephew, part of her was relieved that they had stopped where they had. Beth had no idea what she was doing or where she was going with their relationship.

They still hadn't even discussed that yet. What they were. It seemed so trivial and unimportant and honestly ridiculous, but Beth couldn't quite let go of the way she used to think before.

Beth wondered what her parents would think of Daryl. She wondered what they would make of him; how she would introduce him, what she would call him - maybe she could introduce him as her boyfriend. But the term boyfriend just didn't seem to match up to him because that sounded so immature and silly and he wasn't a boyfriend. Partner seemed more appropriate.

That suited him more than boyfriend in her mind, at least.

"Get some sleep," Beth heard Daryl mumble to her, his chest vibrating against her ear as he spoke. She nodded and yawned as she settled herself further up his chest so that her the top of her head was tucked soundly under his chin. He squeezed her close for a second before relaxing his grip on her, his arm still wrapped around her in a lazy manner.

"Goodnight, Daryl," she whispered to him before placing a kiss against his chest.

"G'dnight, Beth," he replied.

**xxxxxxx**

_"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Oliver and Ari-ell-a... Happy birthday to you."_

Beth grinned as she revealed the cake she had made for the special occasion. Both of the children squealed happily and Daryl shot her a tiny smile from across the kitchen. Daryl's friend Rick had come along to the little party that they were holding and had brought his son Carl and daughter Judith along with him.

Although Beth didn't know much about Carl, she had spent plenty of time with Judith. She wasn't exactly close with Rick but he was always nice to her at Judith's appointments and had mentioned that he was struggling balancing work and looking after her. Beth had explained that she did, too, but now she worked alternate days with Eugene and she could always watch Judith for him when she had the twins.

Beth was relieved to know that Rick didn't expect her to do it all the time, but every now and then he did call round and ask if she didn't mind just watching her for a few hours whilst he finished off his patrol or whilst he ran some errands or whilst he went and spoke to Deanna about something important. Beth always told him she didn't mind, because in all honesty, she didn't.

Beth had always loved spending time with children and some of her favourite memories of Oliver and Ariella were from when they were first starting to run around and talk. At one point in her life, Beth had considered going into teaching, but her mother had been a teacher and told her that it was far too much work for far too little pay and far too much stress. Judith was at Beth's favourite age and having her around was a pleasure.

Even if it did make her a _little_ broody.

Some of the children from school had come along to the gathering, too, along with their parents. And Beth had talked Eugene into coming along after he had finished his shift at the clinic, and he had informed her that he would be bringing along his friend Tara. Beth had been so shocked and surprised that Eugene was going to be accompanying a date to the party, even if he wouldn't admit that was what she was yet.

Daryl had shot Beth down almost instantly and informed her that Tara wasn't interested in Eugene like _that_. Beth had scowled at him and swatted him in the chest, scolding him for making assumptions. He had actually laughed out loud at her and proceeded to tell her that he knew that Tara wasn't interested in Eugene romantically because she wasn't interested in any men romantically.

Beth had blushed furiously at that and insisted that he shut up with his laughter immediately.

"Do you like it?" Beth asked as the twins dug into their slices of cake. She had managed to get her hands on a polaroid camera, thanks to Maggie, and she was snapping away as everyone enjoyed the party. She had opened up the glass doors in the kitchen that led out into the garden and had decorated the trees and the fences with hand-made colourful crafts and banners.

Beth had prepared more than enough food to feed the whole of Alexandria and she knew that there would be plenty of leftovers, but she prepared it nonetheless, worrying that people might not like certain things and prefer others and maybe someone would want to take something home with them or perhaps there wouldn't be enough of one thing and wouldn't that just be a nightmare in itself?

Surprise rushed over Beth's features when the front door opened and Jasmine walked in. Beth had been showing one of the parents of the school children where the bathroom was located and she had just made her way to the bottom of the stairs when Jasmine entered the house.

They hadn't seen each other since their last encounter at Jasmine's place of work, and neither said anything for a moment. Instead they just stared at each other with blank expressions.

"Jasmine," Beth breathed after what she was sure was minutes passed by. Jasmine offered her a weak smile, but Beth didn't - couldn't - return it. She was in shock at the sight of her best friend and was completely unsure of what to say to her.

Jasmine tucked a piece of auburn hair behind her ears and gulped nervously, her wide brown eyes shifting around the walls before she finally reconnected their eye contact. Jasmine hesitantly made her way towards Beth and sat down on the second to last step on the stairs. Beth stared down at her for a few seconds before she copied her actions, sitting slightly higher up than Jasmine, but sitting nonetheless.

"Hi," Jasmine said. Beth smiled a little at that.

"Hey."

It was silent between the girls, neither of them looking at each other. Jasmine was staring straight at the door whilst Beth was looking up towards the stairs, waiting for her guest to emerge from the bathroom.

"It doesn't feel like it's been five years," Jasmine said.

Beth shrugged her shoulders at that.

"I don't know," she said. "It kind of does and kind of doesn't."

"Guess that's how it must feel when you spend every single day with them," Jasmine half-chuckled.

Beth just nodded her head in agreement. Well, it was the truth.

It was quiet again for a few moments until the woman who had been using the bathroom snaked past them and Beth apologised for blocking her way. Once she had left the girls alone once more, Beth let out an exasperated sigh.

"Is there a reason you're here?" she asked when Jasmine's brown eyes looked up to meet hers. "It's just that they're probably wondering where I am."

"Who, my children? Or your party guests?"

"Both."

Jasmine bowed her head and looked at the floor, her shoulders shaking as she let out a long breath before she began to talk.

"I think I knew all along," Jasmine began.

Beth frowned.

"Knew what?"

"About him. Daryl. You know, and... being..."

"Merle's brother, you mean?" Beth asked. She knew that it was almost impossible for Jasmine to say his name. She hadn't said it for a long time - not since she found his dead body sprawled across the grass at the remains of Woodbury. Beth had never said it, either. Out of respect for her best friend.

But she had found over the last few days - probably months, actually - that the respect she once had for Jasmine was slowly dwindling away. Jasmine was still her sister, still her best friend; of course, that would never change. It couldn't change. But Beth didn't respect her anymore. Beth didn't understand her actions or the decisions that she made and she couldn't justify them for her, either.

In fact, she completely disagreed with near enough everything Jasmine had done since she abandoned her two newborn children who had needed her to survive. Instead, they had to rely on Beth. And in her own way, Beth had relied on them, too.

Keeping them alive kept her sane.

"Yeah."

"What makes you say that?"

Beth was genuinely curious.

"The surname, mostly," Jasmine stated.

Beth's eyes widened at that. She hadn't ever put much thought into it, but now it actually crossed her mind, she realised that she had never learnt Merle's second name. Probably because she had never really had an actual conversation with him. Beth had been there a few times when he was around Jasmine, but she mostly kept herself to herself. She had found him to be intimidating - loud and obnoxious, and she definitely hadn't appreciated the way that he treated Jasmine.

And now suddenly, Beth felt a little hurt and almost betrayed at Jasmine's revelation. Before she could dwell too much on it, Jasmine carried on talking.

"I don't know if they look alike. I never got a good look at him, anyway. Not really. And from the things you've said about him... they don't sound at all alike. But I think I knew from the first time you mentioned him. The second you said that name... and I knew that he had a younger brother. You did, too, 'cause he was always tellin' me that he wasn't sticking around when he had a brother to find."

Beth didn't say anything to that. She wondered if Jasmine was trying to suggest that Beth had known, too. As much as she wanted to make sure that it was clear that the only one who had any idea all along was her friend who had hid something so important from her, she didn't say anything.

It was as though her mouth had been glued shut and as much as she had so much she wanted to say, Beth couldn't get the words out. She didn't even know where to begin.

"And I just... it's hard. It's always been hard. I do want to be there for them, Beth. You know I do."

Beth didn't.

"You all know I love them so much."

Beth really didn't. Beth was sure that Oliver and Ariella didn't, either.

"And you know I want to be able to come here and play happy families and forget about everything that I've been through. But I can't."

"No," Beth said through clenched teeth. "No, I really, really don't, Jas. Don't tell me what I know, 'cause I don't."

Jasmine shot her a fiery look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that I don't know _shit_!"

Beth ignored the way that Jasmine's eyes widened in surprise at her language. Beth never really swore - always tried to keep her mouth clean, especially around the twins - but she was just so angry and so confused and she couldn't help it.

"Don't look at me like that," Beth said. "Don't look at me so... _surprised_. 'Cause I mean it. I don't know shit about what you think you want or how you_ think_ you feel."

Beth pushed herself up and made her way down the stairs so that she was standing right in front of Jasmine as she spoke. Jasmine looked up at her friend with a strong poker face. She didn't want to give anything away, and that was fine.

Beth didn't want her to.

"You don't get to do this to me. Not anymore. Not to _them_, either. If you wanted to be a parent - hell, if you really wanted to be a _mother_ to your babies - then you would be. Don't act like it's so hard for you to do that. Everything you've done to them goes against everything a _loving_ mother would do, so don't act like you care!"

"That's not _fair_!" Jasmine protested.

Beth flung her arms out at her sides and tried her hardest not to scream at the top of her lungs out of frustration.

"Fair?" she spat. "Fair? You want to talk to me about _fair_? OK. Fine."

Somewhere in the distance, Beth heard the door from the kitchen open slightly, and she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps growing closer to her. But she couldn't register it right now. She was so consumed by her fury that everything else around her seemed as though it wasn't really there. Not even Jasmine.

So even though she heard Daryl say her name, she didn't really register it, and her blue eyes never darted away from Jasmine's brown.

It wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

"What isn't _fair_ is the fact that I had two newborn babies screaming for milk and you wouldn't even feed them. I had to leave you in a run-down barn whilst I went on a wild goose chase for miles and miles in a rush to try and find some formula because you wouldn't feed your own children. That isn't _fair._

Or what isn't _fair_ is the way that you have left me to take care of them since that first day that they came into this world! The way you not only shut me out but shut them out too. As if it's their fault that they were here, as if it's their fault that you put them in this position!

You know what else isn't _fair_? The way that you swan around town like you've not got a care in the world. Sleepin' with married men and goodness knows who else. Sleepin' out every damn night whilst I'm here, bathin' your children! You know, the ones you made with a guy who didn't even bat an eyelid when you told him you were pregnant? What did you think was gonna happen, Jas? Did you think he was gonna want to marry ya, that he was gonna want to settle down and stop treating you like some_ skank_?"

Beth knew she was probably going too far now, but she couldn't stop. The words were flying out of her mouth like vomit and she was too caught up in the actual truth of everything that she was saying to not say it.

Everything that she had so desperately been wanting to get off her chest for such a long time and now here was her opportunity.

The words had been held in for so long; brewing inside her like the broth her mother used to make and now it was sizzling over the pan and she was exploding like she never had before. Beth had never been so nasty but she could admit the fact that she was bitter because of course she was bitter.

She was bitter that she was playing mother to children who weren't even hers and who never would be hers.

She was bitter that her best friend had played her for a fool for so long, leaving her to deal with the consequences of her actions whilst she got to do whatever she wanted without giving Beth and the twins a second thought.

Beth was visibly shaking and Jasmine was crying.

But she couldn't stop.

"What isn't_ fair_ is the fact that you reject them every single day. That they've actually stopped asking me where their mama is, 'cause they must know deep down that you're not comin' back any time soon. They're sick of askin' for you and never gettin' you. I'm sick of it, too. What's not fair is the way that your son has been asking me for years why you don't love him. And you're daughter's been questioning me as to why you don't brush her hair and sing her to sleep, why it's always me.

What isn't_ fair_ is the way you think it's alright to stroll in here after ignoring them for weeks and weeks, on their _birthday_ of all days, and expect me to welcome you with open arms. Expect them to come rushing in here like you're the best thing they've ever seen. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even recognise you."

Beth felt a hand on her upper arm and before someone was lightly shaking her. She didn't want to break eye contact with Jasmine because the guilt of her last words was already starting to make it's way to the surface and she couldn't believe some of the things she had just said.

Beth hadn't been so angry at Jasmine in such a long time. Not since their last huge row that took place in the same room of the same house that they were stood in right in that moment.

And then she saw a pair of blue eyes blocking her view of Jasmine and she almost stopped breathing. But then her breaths calmed themselves and she was well aware of the fact that it was probably Jasmine who had stormed out of the front door and slammed it loudly behind her, but she was too busy looking at Daryl to properly notice, or to really care.

Daryl didn't say anything to her until her breathing returned to normal and her body stopped trembling from the anger that she felt.

"Y'alright?"

She nodded her head once, her lips in a straight line. Beth wasn't sure what to say. Whilst part of her felt guilty for what she had said to Jasmine, a bigger part of her felt relieved that everything that she had been hiding and holding back for so long was finally out in the open.

And another part of her felt incredibly embarrassed that Daryl had just witnessed all of that.

"I'm sorry," she gushed, not able to help herself. He just shook his head at her.

"Nothin' to apologise for," he said.

"Did anyone -"

"Don't matter," he interrupted her, probably already knowing what she was about to ask before she even finished her sentence.

Beth couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"Come on," he said, pulling on her arm gently. "They're all outside. Reckon people will be leavin' soon and didn't want you to miss any more."

Beth nodded her head and took in a deep breath, following Daryl as he led the way past the kitchen and into the garden.

She was relieved to see the twins laughing as they played with the other children. It was nice to know that they were enjoying themselves and she was equally glad that they were completely oblivious to the argument she had just had with their mother.

"You know, Beth," she heard Rick's voice come from behind her. "I think that was the best cake I've ever tasted."

Beth grinned at that and turned around to face him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep," he confirmed, smiling back at her.

* * *

**The song Beth sings in this chapter is Only One - Kanye West. I'm not so fond of the auto-tune in it, but I love the lyrics to that song and think it's a beautiful lullaby with a lot of meaning to it.**

**So yeah... Beth's finally had enough. I know they've had some arguments so far but they've not really had any where Beth just lets it all out. The only way I could see Jasmine's character actually starting to grow up and look after her children would be to have a reality check from Beth and not anybody else because it's Beth who she's been taking advantage of and it's Beth who hasn't called her out on it so brutally before. So yeah... I think she needed that kick up the arse to get her into gear. **

**Anyway, as stated previously, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**This chapter is set three weeks from the last chapter.**

* * *

Beth grinned as she squeezed Daryl tightly. He was still a little awkward around her when it came to physical contact and she tried her hardest not to push him with it. Daryl had slowly revealing bits of information to her that hinted at an abusive past, and Beth tried her hardest not to be overly curious about it. She knew that he would eventually open up to her when he was ready, and if he didn't, then he wasn't ready.

She wouldn't push it.

"Easy, girl," he warned her as she held him tighter to her. She knew he was just playing with her as she doubted someone of her size and build could really cause him any pain or even any discomfort. So Beth gave him one last little squeeze before she pulled away so that she could see his face.

"I missed you," she told him, unable to wipe the grin from her face.

And she had.

Beth always missed him when he was gone, but he had been gone for five and a half days (_not that she had been counting_) and she had thought about him constantly. She couldn't help that he was always on her mind and she didn't try to fight it anymore, either. Rather, she embraced it. She actively wondered what he was doing or where he was and she made an effort to pray for his safety every night that he was away from Alexandria.

But every time that he went out, he always came back safely. Beth tried not to think about him never returning to her, but she had to admit that it had crossed her mind on several occasions. She had yet to talk to him about it, though.

He didn't return her affectionate words but she just knew that he had missed her, too. Beth knew because he had showed up in the doorway to her office during the middle of the day when he was well aware that she would have plenty of patients waiting for her to finish her dinner before she got back on with her appointments. There was a time when Beth had wondered what it would be like to be with Daryl, and she had often imagined him to be more secretive and discreet about things.

Whilst he wasn't necessarily the hugest fan of PDA, he never stopped her from kissing him or from holding his hand. Not even when they were in front of other people. Sometimes (although it was rare), he even initiated the contact.

Like now.

He took a step towards her and brought his lips to hers, opening his mouth almost immediately. He was hungry for her and Beth complied, allowing him to invade her own mouth with his tongue. She sighed into him. She really had missed him so much and was glad that he was here with her now.

Safe. Breathing. _Alive._

Daryl pulled away from her suddenly but kept his hands pressed onto her cheeks. Beth let her eyes wander up to his and offered him a little smile as her breathing returned to normal.

"Want me to pick Oli and Ari up from school?" he asked. Beth nodded her head yes.

"They would definitely love that," she told him. He kissed her once more - lightly this time - before he dropped his hands from her face. Beth took a few steps away from him and began to tidy her desk.

"I have to get back to work," she told him with a frown. "My next appointment is due... now, actually," Beth said as she checked the clock. Daryl nodded his head at her.

"Alright," he said. "Gotta go clean up anyway. I'll see you later," he said.

Beth called out after him as he made his way out of the door. He paused and turned his head round so that it was halfway over his shoulder, narrowing his blue eyes whilst he looked at her.

"I thought that maybe we could talk to them tonight," she told him, hope dancing in her eyes. "Together."

Daryl paused for a moment before nodding his head. Beth gave him a dazzling smile before he made his way out of her office and down the hallway so that he could leave the clinic. Beth followed the same path that he had taken a minute or so later, catching a glimpse of him making his way towards his home from the windows that decorated the waiting room.

"Mr and Mrs Rhee?" Beth called out, offering Glenn and Maggie a smile as they made their way towards her. "Follow me," she said.

**xxxxxx**

Daryl kissed her again when she walked through the front door. He had caught her by surprise, but she couldn't help but smirk as he attacked her lips with his own.

Daryl puller her closer to him, grabbing her firmly by white coat she wore as a uniform and forcing her closer. Beth's eyes opened wide in surprise as his hands wandered to her hips, but then they fluttered shut as she eased herself into the kiss.

Beth's hands eased their way up from where they had been positioned against his chest and she wrapped them around the back of his neck. Beth tucked her fingers into his hair and he made a little noise of approval into her mouth when she began to play with it.

The kiss was passionate and hard and fast and demanding. But then it eased in its temperament and their tongues were bumping lazily and his fingers were tracing little circles on her lower back and she felt relaxed. The urgency of their kiss had died down and eventually they pulled away from each other.

"Hey," Beth said after a moment, giggling when his lips turned up ever so slightly.

"Hi," he said back.

"Miss me?" she asked bravely. He responded by kissing her again.

When she made her way into the kitchen, Beth was attacked by two five year old menaces who grabbed her each by the hand and pulled her further into the room.

"Beth, you have to see what I made today -"

"Beth, I did the coolest thing ever at school -"

Oliver and Ariella were talking at the same time and Beth had no idea which direction to look in. She turned her head and grinned over at Daryl who was now leaning against the kitchen island looking more than pleased with himself.

"Okay, okay," Beth said, pulling her hands free from the grasps of the twins - who were surprisingly strong. "Let's just relax for a minute, alright? Remember what we've said about taking it in turns to speak?"

"Me first," they both said in unison, and Beth tried not to laugh, but then she heard Daryl snort from where he was sat and she couldn't help it as the sound escaped her lips.

"Stop," she whined at him, but he just shrugged his shoulders in a half-apology. Beth sighed and turned her attention back to the twins.

"Why don't I get dinner ready and then you can tell me - and each other - about the day you've both had whilst we eat?"

Beth's suggestion was a hit and she got straight to work on heating up the homemade soup and bread that she had made the day before. She sat beside Daryl at the table and listened intently to everything that the children told her about.

Oliver was typically boasting about his physical prowess and informed Beth today about how good he was at climbing. Beth reminded him that climbing wasn't always safe and that he needed to be careful about what he was climbing up, but Oliver didn't pay much attention to what she was saying. Daryl asked how Oliver knew he was such a good climber, to which Oliver happily informed him that he had climbed his way up the roof of the building that was Alexandria's school and how nobody had even realised until he got back down.

Daryl nodded his head and looked impressed before Beth elbowed him in the ribs and started scolding her nephew about not listening to his aunt and about how he had to make sure he was careful at all times when he was climbing things.

Ariella chose to tell Beth about how she had been chosen to sing for the choir at school and Beth was sure that Ariella must have already told Daryl and Oliver that at least ten times already because she watched as they shot each other a knowing glance from across the table. Beth narrowed her eyes in their direction and they both went straight back to eating.

Beth smiled at that before she indulged in a conversation about the songs that her niece had to learn before the big show that the school was putting on in a few weeks and she happily informed Ariella that she would teach her how to hit all the right notes. Ariella asked if Beth would start to show her how to play the piano, to which Beth replied that of course she would and maybe they could even start tonight, but first they all had to wait patiently for her and Daryl in the living room because they had something important to talk to them about.

The twins did as they were told and Beth got started on washing up the pots from their meal whilst Daryl prepared them each a glass of juice. Beth smiled gratefully at him once she had finished and took a long swig of her drink.

"Ready?" she asked. Daryl nodded his head at her before leading the way into the living room.

Beth had always tried her hardest not to lie to the twins about anything. Not because she was a horrible liar (even though that was true, she was), but because she had decided a long time ago that families shouldn't have secrets and that she didn't want Oliver and Ariella to find out years down the line that Beth had lied to them about something - whether it be small or big, to protect their innocence or not - and in turn hate her for it.

So she reminded herself of that motto as she sat on the couch across from them, Daryl placing himself next to her, and got ready to explain everything that she believed they had every right to know to them.

Of course, it was difficult because of their age - there was so much they didn't know, even about Merle and who he was and how he had been and what he looked like. But Beth decided it was time that they knew now, and if they had any questions for her further down the line, then she would answer them.

"I need to talk to you both about something that's really important and it's also important that you listen to everything I'm about to tell you. If you have any questions at all then I'll try my hardest to answer them, and so will Daryl."

"Are you having a baby?"

The question caught her off guard, and Oliver gave his sister a disgusted look as the words left her lips. But Ariella just stared straight at Beth with wide eyes and Beth was sure she could see a flicker of excitement in them.

Beth shook her head no.

"What? No, I - no. No, I'm not pregnant. I'm not having a baby."

Ariella pouted a little and Oliver let out a sigh of relief. Beth turned to Daryl who looked as equally horrified as Oliver had done moments before.

"I - we - need to talk to you about something very important. It concerns your father and Daryl."

"My father?" Oliver asked, suddenly very interested. He had always been more eager to learn more about Merle than his sister.

"My father, too," Ariella reminded him. Oliver just rolled his eyes in order to dismiss her.

Beth shot them a knowing look before continuing.

"Yes, your father. I know you haven't been told much about him, and I'm sure you have a lot of questions about him. And I want you both to know that I'll do everything I can to find the right answer to your questions, too."

"Daddy's dead, isn't he?" Ariella said suddenly. "That's what mama said."

Beth just nodded her head.

"Mama said we shouldn't ask questions about him," Oliver said.

Beth tried not to frown at that. She had always thought it was suspicious that the children never really showed much interest in who their father had been, but she had put it down to the fact that they were still so young and that a lot of other children who they interacted with had lost their parents too, so they were used to the idea of death and loss in a way that most five year olds in the world that they had left behind never really had to be.

Clearly, that hadn't been the case. Beth cursed herself mentally for not realising it sooner, but she tried her hardest to let it go.

_How were you to know? _

"I'm not sure what your mother has said about him to you and I don't want to cause any confusion. But you are more than entitled to know about your dad and if you have any questions you can always come to me or Daryl about them."

Oliver cocked his head to the side and looked at Daryl with a confused frown.

"You knew my pa?" he asked.

Daryl nodded his head at the boy and Beth sensed how uncomfortable he felt in that moment. Beth and Daryl still hadn't talked much about Merle, and she had assumed that it was still hard for him to talk about the loss of his older brother.

Even if she didn't have the greatest impression of Merle from what had happened with Jasmine in Woodbury, she knew that he wasn't an awful person. Part of her blamed Jasmine mostly for getting way ahead of herself in it everything to do with Merle, and Beth didn't hold him responsible for the way Jasmine felt about him. She did hold him responsible for the way he shrugged off her pregnancy, but Beth tried not to dwell on that.

Beth had been honest when she told Jasmine that she had hoped that had Merle lived to see the twins be born that he would love them as much as he loved the brother that he spoke of so often and so fondly. Beth liked to think that if he were here now, Merle would treat them with the love and affection that he had never shown to their mother.

"Your father..." Beth began, not sure of where to start. She figured that the best thing to do was to spit it out.

But before she could say anything more, Daryl beat her to it.

"He was my brother," he said. Both of the twins looked at each other for a second before turning back towards where Daryl and Beth were sat, their eyes darting between both of the adults, a blank expression on both of their faces.

Daryl cleared his throat before he continued.

"I only found out a few weeks ago that he was your dad," Daryl began. "Never told me himself. Beth didn't know, either."

"How did you know?" Ariella asked.

Daryl looked at Beth for help.

"Well," Beth began, her blue eyes wandering from Daryl's to look at her niece when she spoke. "I was discussing your father with Daryl and I mentioned what he looked like..."

"Mama said he only had one hand," Oliver chimed.

Beth and Daryl both smiled at that.

"Yes. Well, that's what I told Daryl, too. And then I told him where we all lived -"

"Woodberries!" Ariella interrupted.

Beth giggled.

"Woodbury. But good remembering. And then I told Daryl your father's name, and then Daryl informed me that I the man I had just described was in fact his brother."

"What was daddy's name?"

The twins asked the question in unison.

"Merle."

It was Daryl who answered that, his voice strong as he said his brother's name. Beth reached out her hand and placed it over where his was resting on his knee and squeezed it lightly, never breaking eye contact from the twins as she did so.

The room was quiet for a moment and Beth could see from their expressions that both of the children were deep in thought. She wondered if it had been too much for them to take in at once.

Perhaps they should have waited to tell them when they were a little bit older, when they could understand more about what things meant and how things worked and what this would change for them and...

"So what does that mean?" Oliver asked, breaking the silence.

Beth gave all three of them a warm smile before she answered Oliver's question.

"It means that Daryl is your uncle," she said.

* * *

**Brady66 : I hope that answers your question! I was halfway through writing this chapter when I received your review. ****I wanted to include this snippet where Beth and Daryl tell the twins about the revelation in the last chapter, but thought it would make it too long.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think!**


	19. Chapter 19

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I just want to thank you all for the reviews you've given me. I really appreciate it and it's really encouraging. I can't figure out how to reply to them unless I do it via authors note (technophobe alert) so if any of you could let me know how to do that, that would be much appreciated.**

**This chapter comes along with a smut warning. **

* * *

"You're glowing."

Maggie smiled and thanked Beth for the compliment.

"I mean it. You look radiant. Pregnancy really suits you. Now, shall we get started?" Beth asked. Maggie nodded her head yes as Beth flicked over her notes from the past few appointments.

"How have you been feeling?" Beth asked. Maggie shrugged her shoulders.

"Not too bad, I guess," she began. Beth nodded her head as she spoke. "The sickness has kinda gone. It's easier to cope with now."

"Have you found that changing your diet has helped at all?"

"Staying away from fruit and any vegetables actually seems to be helping," Maggie said. Beth laughed at that. "Glenn's been a real sweetheart and keeps makin' me all sorts of pasta that I like. I think the cravin's are kickin' in - I can't get enough of that stuff."

"All I can do is recommend that you try and keep your diet balanced, but if avoiding certain foods helps with the sickness then I would suggest carrying on the way you are doing. Your body needs to be strong during pregnancy and considering we live in the world we do... we want to make sure you're as strong as you can be. And that definitely means trying our best to make sure you're up and about and moving instead of hanging your head over the toilet bowl."

Maggie smiled at that.

"Have you felt any movement yet?"

"Not yet," Maggie said. "I don't think so, anyway."

"Not to worry," Beth said when she saw Maggie's face fall. "This is your first pregnancy, and we've got you estimted at being about eighteen or nineteen weeks, so you've got a while yet before I'd be concerned about you not feeling any movement. I know it's difficult, but try not to worry about it."

Maggie nodded her had at that.

"Right," Beth said, finishing off scribbling notes down in her notepad and plopping her pen on top of it with a grin. "Let's get you measured."

**xxxxx**

It was late by the time Beth arrived home. She wasn't surprised to find that Oliver and Ariella were fast asleep in their bedrooms, knowing that Daryl will have taken care of them whilst she was working.

Beth often felt guilty for leaving them with Daryl as much as she did. He had always been amazing with them and incredibly helpful to her, but since he had found out that they were family - as in real, actual _blood_ family, not just adopted family - he had gone above and beyond her expectations. He already had done so much for them before, so Beth wasn't sure how things could possibly get any better.

But they did.

Daryl had pretty much moved in with them, but she didn't mind.

Actually, that was an understatement.

Beth adored the fact that he lived with them now. She loved coming home and finding him there. She loved falling asleep and waking up in bed tucked into him. She loved having dinner with him and making his meals ready. She loved having his clothes in her wardrobe and his socks and underwear in her drawers and his things in her house.

_Their_ house.

On days where she worked, Beth took the children to school on her way to the clinic and Daryl picked them up for her. When she worked late, he made sure that they were fed and bathed and in their pajamas when she arrived home. Sometimes, on nights like tonight, she worked really late, and that's when she would come home to find the children passed out in their beds.

Beth regretted the fact that she didn't get to see them before they went to sleep, but she always made sure she kissed their foreheads and whispered wishes of sweet dreams to them.

When Beth entered their bedroom, she was glad to see that Daryl was still awake. He was sat up in bed reading a book she didn't recognise, and she gave him a smile in greeting before she placed her things down on the floor.

Beth made her way over to her dressing table and removed her make up and ran the comb through her hair. She talked to Daryl about the hectic day that she'd had and told him all about her appointment with Maggie and how well things seemed to be going in her pregnancy.

Daryl never really asked much about Maggie, but she knew that her and Glenn had arrived in Alexandria as part of Daryl's group, so she made sure that she updated him about Maggie's situation every now and then.

He never really said much about it, either - just grunted and nodded his head - but deep down, Beth knew that he cared, or he would have told her a long time ago not to bother telling him because he wasn't interested.

"How was your day?" Beth asked as she removed the black leggings that she had worn to work that day and left the baggy green tee that fell midway to her thighs on. She had dressed casually under her white coat for once. The heat that the summer was bringing was making her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She had worn most of her shorter things and they were still waiting in her basket to be washed, so that morning she had settled for wearing her leggings over jeans.

Daryl answered her question and she listened intently, but she couldn't help but notice the way that his eyes lingered on her legs after she removed the bottoms. Beth bit her lip and busied herself by removing the earrings she had on, but she couldn't help but feel giddy knowing the effect she had on him.

They still hadn't done much. Actually, they hadn't really done anything at all. A few heated make-out sessions that always seemed like they were finally leading to something was all she could boast of because somehow, something always seemed to interrupt them.

But tonight, Beth had other ideas.

She crossed the room and placed herself in bed next to him. Daryl watched her with narrowed eyes and she knew that he was curious about her intentions. She made small talk with him as she crawled her way up the bed, noticing the way that he closed his book and placed it face-down onto the chest of drawers next to where he was positioned.

Beth carried on talking - what about, she didn't even really know herself - as she made her way towards him and finally straddled his lap. Their faces were now level with each other and she noticed the little smirk that he had on his lips as she started playing with the collar of his shirt nervously.

He kissed her then. It was a small kiss at first, but then it got more sloppy and passionate and honestly desperate. Beth couldn't get enough of him - the taste of him on her tongue, the feel of his stubble against her palms, the way his hair felt when she ran her fingers through it. Daryl brushed his fingers against her jaw before his palms met at the back of her head and he pulled her closer to him.

The move made her grind against him, a move which shocked them both. She noticed his eyes flying open when hers did the same, but neither of them made any move to stop. Beth daringly let her hands wander away from his hair - over his arms and down his chest before she began tugging on his shirt.

He broke their kiss just long enough to help her pull his top from over his head and then their mouths were on each other's again and she was grinding on him with more confidence and more pressure than before. Beth couldn't help but moan into his mouth with pleasure at the intense feeling the friction was causing.

But she needed _more._

Beth ripped her own top from over her head and Daryl groaned when his hands skimmed over her breasts. She had always been self-conscious about their size; feeling inadequate compared to all of her friends in the locker rooms at school whenever they had to get changed for sports. Hers were always on the smaller size. She was never able to fit in anything bigger than a B cup, and considering the amount of weight she had lost since the start of the apocalypse, she was surprised she still had any fat left on her chest at all.

But now Daryl was here and he was humming in pleasure as he grabbed both of her breasts with his hands and they just seemed to fit with him so well. Beth felt more womanly than she ever had done in her life and she was suddenly very happy with the size of her breasts and the way she felt Daryl harden against her as he played with them.

She wasn't sure when she had undone the clasp of her bra, but she had, and then she was tugging it from her shoulders and exposing all of her breasts to him. Daryl broke the kiss to look down at her and take everything in, and as much as she wanted to blush a deep crimson colour and cover herself up from his wandering eyes, at the same time, she couldn't help but feel wonderful as his blue eyes roamed her chest.

Without warning, Daryl's head dipped and he was taking her nipple in his mouth and sucking and oh. Beth couldn't help but think that it felt absolutely wonderful and she wanted him latched to her this way forever. She felt his warm tongue running over her and if she hadn't thought his tongue was sinful before, she definitely thought it now.

Beth heard herself moaning his name, but it didn't sound like her voice and it didn't even feel like her voice. She wasn't sure where it came from but now her tone was low and she actually thought she might sound sexy.

That was something she had never sounded before.

Then she quickly realised that it was something she had never felt before.

But now here she was, wriggling on Daryl's lap with the backs of her hands pushing down on his head to encourage him to continue his exploration of her breasts with his mouth and his tongue and she had never felt so attractive in her life.

She felt herself being shifted about and all too soon Daryl was breaking the contact from her breasts. Part of her felt disappointed, but then he was reconnecting with her mouth and their tongues were fighting against each other once again and she couldn't feel anything other than hot and bothered and honest to God ready for him in a way she hadn't before. Beth had known for a while that she wanted to give herself to him, but she wasn't ever sure of how to do it.

In this moment, she knew that it was time. No more distractions and no more excuses, either. Beth was ready and she wanted this. She knew he wanted this too, because as much as he didn't tell her things, he showed her. And even if he didn't want to show her, his body certainly had other ideas.

Daryl had pushed her down on the bed so that he was on top of her and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was only wearing her underwear whilst Daryl was still wearing his jeans. She groaned a little at that thought and began fumbling with his belt buckle. Beth cringed at herself as she struggled with it in an awkward manner that was just so typical of her and if he didn't know how inexperienced she was before then he must know now.

But Daryl didn't say anything about it and he helped her along, leaning down to kiss her whilst he pulled down the zipper of his jeans and then he was kicking the offending piece of clothing down his legs and off the bed. They hit the floor with a little thud and Beth was pulling him down on top of her so that she could grind herself into him once again.

Beth's mouth was back on Daryl's in an instant and after a few more passionate kisses she felt her hands wandering bravely down his chest. He shuddered at her touch and then he hissed into her mouth when one of her hands slipped underneath his boxers and wrapped itself around his length.

If she was going to be honest with herself, Beth had actually surprised herself with her curiosity and although she wasn't quite sure what she was doing as she used her free hand to push his boxers down his legs and began moving her other hand up and down, she knew that she had to be doing something right or Daryl wouldn't be making the noises that he was.

She felt powerful and she felt good and she couldn't help but wonder what she had been so afraid of all of this time. Beth was excited and even though she was a little nervous, she couldn't help but grin when Daryl told her that she had to stop or this wasn't going to last much longer.

That had to be a good thing, she thought to herself.

Beth angled her hips upwards so that Daryl could pull her white lace underwear down her legs and then his fingers were pressed against her. He buried his face into the crook of her neck and she wondered if he was as embarrassed as her about the whole thing because he was certainly doing a good job of hiding himself from her eyes.

All coherent thought fluttered away as one of his fingers pressed into her and he was groaning in her ear that she was 'so fuckin' tight' and she couldn't help but moan at the sound. Beth felt her nipples harden even more as he sucked on her earlobe and her arms were prickling with goosebumps in the most delicious way.

Beth turned her head so that she could kiss him and when his finger withdrew from inside her and made its way up to flick against her clit, she was relieved that Daryl's mouth was on hers so that it muffled her mewl because she was sure that the neighbours would have definitely heard her otherwise.

It wouldn't even surprise her if they still could.

When Daryl eventually positioned himself over her so that the head of his cock was at her entrance, Beth allowed herself to look up and stare into the depths of his blue eyes. He raised a brow at her and breathed out the question she knew he just had to ask.

"Are you sure?"

Beth wanted to laugh. _Was she sure?_

_Was he joking?_

She was dripping wet and he knew it because his fingers had just been inside of her and his free hand had been holding her down whilst her hips bucked at the pleasurable feel of his thumb circling her clit.

But Beth didn't laugh. Her lips were parted open as she panted, her eyes wide but sure as she nodded her head at him.

"Of course," she told him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

That was all it took for him to push himself into her and Beth bit down on her lip because it definitely did hurt. He cursed into her ear as he entered her. Daryl didn't fit into her in the one push. It took him several more slow and steady thrusts until he was completely inside her and he continued to hiss profanities as he did so. When he was finally all the way inside her he froze above, his eyes searching her face whilst she got used to the new and strange feeling.

Once the pain subsided, Beth wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled his lips towards hers. He returned the kiss happily but he didn't move until she began rocking her hips against him.

The pain lingered for a little while longer, but it became more and more bearable with each thrust. Eventually it subsided and when Daryl's hand wandered down to her center and began drawing circles on her clit once more, Beth wondered what she had been so afraid of all of this time.

It felt wonderful.

Beth moaned out his name and was more than enjoying herself when he quickened the pace and hit into her harder and harder with each thrust. She gasped when he removed himself from her and came onto her belly with a groan, her eyes wide as she watched his face screw itself up and then finally relax.

When he was finished, Daryl collapsed on top of her, mumbling about how he was sorry and fuck and how he was really, really sorry.

Beth didn't know what he was apologising for but she just kissed him on the nose and told him that it was alright. Her own heart was thrumming violently against her chest and then Daryl settled himself into the crook of her neck once more and placed a tiny little kiss to her throat.

It was in that moment that Beth realised just how strongly she felt about him.

When they had both calmed down, Daryl pushed himself from her and made his way back up the bed, pulling his boxers back up as he did so. Beth copied his actions with her own underwear before she left the room and rushed across the hallway to wipe away the evidence of what they had just done from her stomach and from in between her legs.

There was more blood on the sheets than she had anticipated there would be, but Daryl had removed them whilst she had been cleaning herself in the bathroom and insisted that it was fine her cheeks turned pink. Beth smiled at him and followed him back onto the bed, nestling herself onto his chest and wrapping her arms around his middle after he had flicked out the lamp.

"Daryl?" she whispered as he placed a kiss to her temple.

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

He didn't say anything to that and she didn't expect him to, either. But he pulled her in a little bit closer and squeezed her hip and she just knew in that moment that he loved her back.

Even if he wasn't ready to say it.

* * *

**I've never written smut before and figured there was a first time for everything. I'll try anything at least once!**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter :)**


	20. Chapter 20

"Daryl said he'll take me hunting real soon," Oliver chimed as Beth walked with him away from the school. Ariella had stayed behind to practice with the choir and Beth was informed to pick her up two hours later.

"Did he?" Beth asked, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"Yep," Oliver said. "And he said that he'll try and find me a crossbow just like his to use when he's out. And he said that maybe one day, if I get good with a bow, I can go out of the walls to help people just like he does on his missions."

"Wow," was all Beth could think to say.

"Are you jealous?" Oliver asked. Beth told him that she was a little bit. "It's alright, Beth. I think Daryl likes you too."

Beth had to laugh at that.

"You do?" she asked, feigning excitement. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, he kisses ya, don't he?"

Beth didn't know what to say to that. Oliver looked up at her expectantly as they walked, waiting for her reply, but nothing came out of Beth's mouth.

Whilst Beth had never plucked up the courage to speak to Daryl about the status of their relationship, she had spoken to him almost as soon as the thing they had started about not telling the children that there was anything going on between them because she didn't want Oliver and Ariella to get upset and confused if it came to an end.

And she honestly thought they had been doing so well with their sneaking around, too.

"Oliver," Beth said his name in a warning tone. "I thought we spoke about this. I don't know where you're getting these lazy habits from, but you and I both know that you can speak properly, so I'd appreciate it if you did."

That was a little bit of a lie. Beth knew very well where Oliver was picking up his habits from when it came to the way he had been speaking recently. Actually, she knew very well where he was picking up most of his habits full stop - not just his speaking ones. And whilst there was nothing she could do to change the way that Daryl spoke (not that she wanted to in the first place, anyway), she was adamant that her nephew would not get lazy with his language capabilities.

And since Beth had been the one to teach him how to speak, she knew exactly what he could and couldn't do - and he could definitely string a coherent sentence together along with the right tenses and appropriate verbs, adjectives and nouns with ease.

"Okay," Oliver grumbled, taking in a deep breath before he spoke again. "Well, he kisses you, doesn't he?"

Beth tried her hardest not to blush as Oliver corrected himself. That wasn't what she had intended for him to do.

"What makes you think that Daryl kisses me?" she asked.

Oliver scrunched his face up in confusion as he looked up at her.

"What do you mean?" he frowned. "You's are always kissin'."

**xxxxx**

"Do you have to go?" Beth pouted as she stood on the porch, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at Daryl. He gave her a knowing look and she couldn't help but sigh.

"Don't ask me that," he told her.

Beth took a step closer to him and held onto the sides of his vest, silently telling him to bend down to her and kiss her on the lips. She gave him a small smile when he pulled away.

"I'll be back soon," he said. Beth nodded her head. "S'last one for a while."

Beth knew that. She knew because he had already told her a dozen times. Whilst she didn't want to hold him back considering she knew that he loved being outside of the walls of this place, she hated when he left more than anything in the world.

It wasn't that she worried that he couldn't take care of himself, because he knew more than well enough that he could. And Beth knew that he always came back to her unscathed. But it didn't change the fact that she worried about him regardless, because he wasn't invincible.

None of them were.

"I know," she told him. "I'll see you soon."

Daryl offered her a nod of his head as he made his way down the steps of the porch. Beth watched as he walked away, the streets still dark as the sun was yet to rise. She called out his name and watched as he turned to face her.

"Be safe."

Once Beth had wandered back into the house, she knew deep down that she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. She was so used to him being there by now and she couldn't remember what it had been like to sleep soundly when she was alone in the bed. Oliver's nightmares had got a lot better over time, and Beth believed that Daryl's presence and general influence in Oliver's life had helped him sleep more peacefully at night, too.

So now it was Beth who was creeping into Oliver's room (or sometimes Ariella's when she wanted to give her nephew a break) asking if she could sleep in bed with them because she was having bad dreams. And the children always nodded their head in acceptance and were more than happy to allow their aunt to sleep next to them until Daryl came home.

Sometimes, they sang lullabies to her, too.

It took eight days for Daryl to come back to her. She was sure that it was the longest he had ever been gone - most of the time his trips took between three or four days, five at the most. He had even come back after two days once, when Aaron had injured himself quite badly and needed Beth to stitch a nasty cut on his arm back up.

The week had dragged by all too slowly and in that time Beth had found a new friend in one of Daryl's close friends, Carol.

Oliver and Ariella talked about her a lot and seemed to like her enough, but they also said that she was scary and one of the children at school had said that she had threatened him. Beth told them not to always listen to what other people say because sometimes they can be wrong and you had to make your own judgement of people by getting to know them yourself.

So Beth followed her own advice and invited Carol round for dinner whilst Daryl was away. Carol came once Oliver and Ariella were tucked up in bed and enjoyed a glass of wine with their meal whilst Beth stuck to water as they chatted about Alexandria and how things were in the town. Carol complimented Beth on her work at the clinic and Beth thanked her, asking how things were going at the school.

All in all, Beth thought that Carol seemed nice enough, but she couldn't help but get an off vibe about the woman who inspected her home as though she was looking to find something that shouldn't be there. Carol told Beth stories about her time before the group had arrived at Alexandria and had even spoken to her about Daryl - or at least tried to, anyway.

_"He's different around you," Carol said with a tight-lipped smile. _

_Beth took a long sip of her drink. She wasn't sure that Daryl would appreciate her gossiping about him with one of his long-term friends, so she tried not to give too much away about him. Beth knew that he was a private person and she doubted that he had told anyone much about their relationship._

_"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Beth asked, genuinely intrigued. _

_"A good thing, I promise," Carol said. Beth nodded her head as she shoveled some more food into her mouth. _

_"Has he told you not to talk to me about it?" she asked. _

_Beth furrowed her brows in confusion._

_"I - no," she stuttered, shaking her head from side to side. "No, of course not. I just... I guess I don't know what to say."_

_Beth felt a little bit sheepish but she tried to shrug it off. After all, it was the truth. She didn't know what Carol wanted her to say on the matter and she wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell the older woman, either. _

_Although she seemed trustworthy enough, Beth didn't really want all of her business plastered across the town in the way that Jasmine's had been when she was sleeping with Jess' husband, Pete. That would be her worst nightmare and she was positive it would be Daryl's, too._

_On second thought, she corrected herself, that wasn't the truth. No, of course it wasn't hers (or his) worst nightmare - their worst nightmare was outside of the walls of Alexandria. But still - it was definitely up there. _

_"What are you two, anyway?" Carol asked. Beth shrugged her shoulders at that. "What - you don't know?"_

_"No," Beth answered honestly, biting her lip hesitantly. "We've never really spoken about it."_

So when Daryl finally returned home, Beth was excited to see him and she was excited to tell him all about the things that she had been up to and the way that Maggie's baby was now kicking and the fact that Eugene was talking to her about training a young man who was a few years younger than Beth so that even more shifts could be covered at the clinic and about how she had invited Carol over for dinner.

When she heard the front door open and close and the familiar sound of boots treading across the wooden floor of the hallway downstairs, Beth threw herself out of her bedroom and rushed down the two flights of stairs that would lead her to him as quickly as she possibly could.

He was covered in blood and mud and sweat and his hair was damp and his hands were cold and he smelt absolutely awful but Beth didn't care. She rushed over to him and threw herself against him, freshly washed and dried and ironed white dress and all - and clutched at him as she grinned into his shoulder.

Daryl returned her embrace with just as much enthusiasm, straightening himself up so that her feet no longer touched the floor and then he span them both round in a few circles. Beth laughed heartily at the gesture before he placed her down on the floor again and before she knew it she was being thrown against the kitchen door and his hands were on her hips and his lips were on hers and he told her everything she needed to know through his kiss.

"I missed you, too," she giggled when he finally broke the kiss so that they both could breathe. His lips quirked up a little at that, and Beth was glad that she was finally beginning to understand all of the little things he did to speak to her in ways that he couldn't express through words.

Beth went ahead and fixed him up a plate of food and made him a drink that he downed with just a few gulps. She laughed softly as he wiped his mouth and poured him another glass. He took his time drinking that one, but rammed the food that she had made into his mouth as soon as she placed it in front of him.

"How was it?" she asked, worried that the toasted sandwiches were burning his mouth, but if they were, he didn't show it. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright," he said. Beth nodded.

"You were gone for eight days," she told him, in case he didn't know. She wasn't so sure that he counted every hour that he was away from her in the same way that she did.

"I know," he said. Beth nodded her head once more. "Last one for a while."

"Yeah," was all she said before she left him in peace to finish his food.

When he was finished she began rinsing his bowl underneath the sink and told him to go and clean himself up. Daryl just stood there and watched her and once she was satisfied with her work, she turned round and playfully glared at him.

"Get yourself up them stairs and into a bath before I scrub every inch of you with soap myself," she teased. Daryl's expression fell then and she wasn't quite sure what it was that she had said but he had disappeared before she could ask him what was wrong.

Beth tried not to dwell on it and reminded herself that she had been trying her hardest not to over think things recently; especially when it came to Daryl.

But saying and doing were two completely different things, and most things were easier said than done.

* * *

**So I thought that it was probably about time that Beth got to learn about Daryl's back and a bit more about his past. Up until now, he's managed to hide it from her pretty well, except for the odd few bits and pieces. I think I'll probably address it in the next chapter.**

**Because of how caught up with the children and work Beth had been in this story, I made a conscious effort to not really give her many friends that were adults and not children. At Oliver and Ariella's party she didn't really know anyone and stuck mostly to Daryl and throughout the whole story her only real friend has been Jasmine (not including Daryl) and obviously she had a sort-of friendship with Eugene, but they work alternate shifts so they don't get to bond that much. So that was my reasoning for deciding that it was time that Beth gets to know someone different, and I thought Carol would be nice because she's obviously a good friend of Daryl's. **

**I'm not really sure what's been going on with her character for the most of this season and I tried to put in a few hints to that in there by talking about her threatening the child and by having her seem a bit wary. I'm a bit unsure of where I'm going to take the relationship for Beth and Carol and also Carol and Daryl in this story so if you have any suggestions at all please let me know what you think. I was also debating exploring a possible friendship between Beth and Maggie but I'm not decided on that either... **

**But overall please let me know what you think of this chapter - I love reading your reviews! **


	21. Chapter 21

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**If smut isn't your thing then you might want to skip the first bit of this chapter. **

**Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Beth hummed as she brushed through her recently dried hair, watching as her curls slowly began to form from the frizz. Her eyes kept flicking to Daryl in the mirror who was lay on the bed with one arm tucked behind his head, the other arm outstretched and holding the book that he was occupied with.

She often wondered how they got to where they were now, because it was more or less a mystery to her still. Even after all this time, she couldn't put her finger on just how they had got from being sat across from each other as strangers having a check-up to being with him the way she was every night.

The thought made her blush a little.

Beth placed her hairbrush down onto her vanity table and stretched as she stood up before she made her way over to the bed. Daryl's eyes were roaming over her before he saved the page he was on and moved his book to the side. Beth hopped into the bed next to him and lay on her side so that she could face him, running her fingers over the arm that was closest to her.

Daryl just stared at her as she did so and didn't say anything. He just watched. Beth often wondered what he was thinking and sometimes she thought that her guesses were right. But other times like these - she wouldn't even know where to begin with her guesses.

Beth watched as his one of his big hands came towards her face and cupped her jaw. She met his eyes then and gave him a gentle smile as he stroked his thumb over her cheek.

"You're beautiful."

He had never said that to her before, and Beth tried her hardest to choke back her shock. Beth felt her heart pick up in her chest and she knew that he could probably feel her pulse against his fingers but she tried not to worry. Surely he had to know what he did to her by now, the reactions that he caused deep within her.

The way he made her heart beat faster than anything she had ever been afraid of and she wasn't afraid of him in the slightest. The way her mouth watered when he lingered without a shirt for too long. The way heat pooled within her thighs whenever he looked at her the way he was right now.

When he kissed her, Beth let it all go. She poured everything she felt for him into her kiss and tried her hardest to talk to him through her body language the way he always did for her. She clenched at the collar of his shirt and yanked him down with as much force as she could muster and Daryl took the hint, climbing around so that the way lay on top of her.

He was supporting the majority of his weight with his hands and Beth was secretly relieved because she had honestly wondered on several occasions whether he would crush her because he was just so much bigger than her in every way imaginable.

Beth heard herself moaning his name and then his lips left hers and found their way to her earlobe. He nibbled and sucked and Beth couldn't help but make the unrecognisable sounds that were flying out of her mouth. She raked her fingers up his biceps before she started to mess around with the buttons of his shirt, trying her hardest to keep her fingertips steady so that she could unbutton the material.

But it was difficult not to let her body quiver when she was so excited and she could feel that he was so hard and now he was breathing her name down her ear and she was gone.

Beth wrapped her legs around him and cursed herself for even bothering to put on pajamas before bed because didn't she know subconsciously where this would lead? It always went like this nowadays and Beth wasn't sure why she bothered dressing herself at all.

She supposed it was so she didn't always look desperate for him. But she was.

Daryl was pulling her top over her head before she knew it and Beth was just thankful that she had managed to unbutton his shirt because she needed to feel his flesh on hers. She ran her fingers down his chest once before she pushed the shirt away from his shoulders and began exploring his back with her hands.

He tensed up at that for a moment - he always seemed to whenever she touched it - but then he relaxed and dipped his head down to pay attention to her breasts. Beth was panting as he sucked at her nipples, paying them both an equal amount of attention, and thanked herself for not bothering to put on a bra. Those things just got in the way, anyway.

Beth was enjoying herself so much and then she felt Daryl kissing his way down her stomach and she couldn't help but smile at the feel of him sucking hard at her left hip bone. Beth was sure that he had marked her with his mouth right then but she didn't even flinch because she was already marked by him inside anyway and what did it matter? If he asked her to tattoo his name across every inch of her skin right now she would agree because he was yanking down her shorts and her underwear in one swift motion and then -

_Where was he going with his mouth?_

Beth's eyes flew open and her head tilted down to watch him. Curiosity consumed her and she gasped when she realised exactly what he had planned. She tried her hardest not to be self conscious but she couldn't help but think about the fact that nobody had ever seen her like that - she hadn't even seen herself from that angle - and what would he think and how would she look and -

"Relax."

Daryl had a way of knowing exactly what she was thinking - the way she tried to with him - and in that moment she was so relieved.

Beth couldn't help but feel more aroused when she felt his warm breath against her as he spoke, but she did as she was told and closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the pillows and let her legs loosen from their stiff position on the bed.

Even if a part of her _did_ want to watch him as his head dipped between her thighs.

Beth gasped when she felt his tongue run over her. Daryl used his hands to hold her hips down and she knew that if he wasn't there to restrain her then she would undoubtedly be bucking herself all over his face. She didn't - couldn't - even think as his tongue lapped her up and when he found her clit and began drawing circled over it, Beth couldn't do anything but moan in pleasure.

She said his name over and over again and it seemed to spur him on. He quickened the pace of his tongue against her and she was whimpering desperately. One of his hands crept away from her hips and he slipped two of his fingers inside her. He was still holding her down but Beth couldn't help but grind into his mouth and then all it took was for him to suck on her clit and she was coming and coming hard.

Beth was surprised she could even remember his name at that point, but she carried on whimpering it as she rode out her orgasm. It wasn't the first time he had made her come but he had only ever used his fingers before and this was just so different and overwhelming and wow.

When Daryl made his way up her body and kissed her, Beth grabbed at the back of his head and pulled him into her mouth. She groaned at the foreign taste of herself on his tongue and she was impossibly wet already but now she was definitely sure she was dripping. Her clit was throbbing hard and she had only just came but she wanted him inside her now.

Daryl tugged down his jeans when she told him to and she was more than happy to guide him inside of her.

"Fuck, you're so _wet_."

His words made her moan and she felt breathless as he pushed himself into her. Daryl didn't waste any time when it came to finding a rhythm that they both enjoyed and she wrapped her legs around his hips as he pounded into her. Beth bit down hard on her lip and she tried her hardest to meet his thrusts but his pace was quickening and she didn't even think that that was possible at the speed he had already been going.

Daryl told her that he was going to come and she just pulled his head down towards her to kiss him as he did. He spilled himself deep inside her and hissed out words that were so dirty and would usually make her blush but now they made her feel wanted and sexy and loved.

Beth held Daryl to her chest until both of their breathing had returned to normal. When they were both calm, he rolled away from her onto his back - kissing her once on the lips as he did so - and then Beth curled herself into his side and nestled her head underneath his chin. Daryl wrapped one arm around her shoulders and she placed one of hers across his stomach.

"Shouldn't have done that," he muttered after a few moments of peaceful silence.

Beth knew what he meant, but she played dumb.

"What?" she asked innocently. Beth knew that he was narrowing his eyes at her, even if she couldn't see him. She bit down on her lip and tried to stop herself from smiling.

Teasing him was just so much fun.

"You know what I mean, girl," he said, poking her in the ribs. She giggled at that.

"I know," she breathed, finally moving her head so that she could look up at him and into his eyes. "We need to get some condoms or something. But I don't know who to ask," she admitted. Daryl nodded at that.

"I'll sort it," he told her. Beth smiled and placed a kiss on his jaw before she returned to her original position where her head was tucked under his chin.

"Goodnight, Daryl," she said sleepily.

Daryl returned her wishes of goodnight and stretched out his free arm to turn off the light.

**xxxxx**

Beth hadn't meant to walk in on him when he was getting changed, and she hadn't meant to see it, either.

She promised it to him probably one hundred times over from behind the door and when he finally emerged from their bedroom he found her sat at the top of the stairs, a worried expression on her face and her fingers fidgeting with themselves.

Beth tried not to think about the horrified look that he had on his face when he quickly turned around and realised that it was too late - that she had seen it. Now she thought about it, Beth wasn't sure how she didn't realise that she had never seen his back before. She was so ditsy and oblivious sometimes and she hadn't even given it any thought except for when he jumped a little when she touched it. But now it just seemed so obvious and she felt so stupid for not knowing and she felt so guilty for seeing it, too.

Part of her wanted to reassure him that it really wasn't that bad, but Beth had a feeling that the reason he didn't want her to see his back for so long wasn't down to vanity. Daryl wasn't like that. There was something more about him that she just didn't know and he hadn't been ready to share it with her. Maybe he still wasn't ready now. Maybe she wasn't ready to hear it.

"I'm sorry, Daryl," she told him, and she meant it. Beth really was sorry for intruding. He just shook his head and sat down next to her on the top step.

"Nothin' to be sorry 'bout," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Daryl wouldn't make eye contact with her, and that was what made her weak. He never really said much anyway but she had slowly become better and better at reading him non-verbally. Daryl's eyes often gave him away to her and she was glad to be getting better and better at knowing what he was thinking.

Beth tentatively reached out and placed both of her hands on his jaw before she slowly turned his face towards hers. Daryl looked at her then but his expression was blank; his poker face perfected over time and now she didn't even know where to begin.

Eventually, Beth let her hands drop from his face and then his head fell as he let out a long sigh. He nudged closer to her ever so slightly and then he placed his head on her shoulder.

Beth was shocked at the contact. She hadn't expected him to initiate it, but then she never really knew what to expect from Daryl. All Beth could think to do was to move one of her hands to the back of his head and begin to play with his hair whilst he spoke.

He explained everything to her in as little detail as possible and Beth was sure that her heart broke in that moment.

Daryl told her about his father and there was something that he mumbled about a belt and about drunken evenings. And then he proceeded to tell her about his older brother, Merle, and how he had looked after him for a little while but then he had gone and his mother was dead - nothing left of her after the house had burnt to the ground - and it was just him and his father and a belt.

For once, Beth had absolutely no idea what to say. She didn't cry, even though she wanted to. She just held him close and carried on playing with his hair and hoped that it soothed him when she did.

A lot of things suddenly made sense to her in that moment when it came to Daryl and she was so sorry that she hadn't thought much about it before. Beth had known for some time now that she loved him and she had thought it impossible to love him anymore than she already did, but in that moment when he finally opened up to her and told her the things he had been hiding for so long, she was certain that she definitely did love him more than before.

So Beth told him so, and then Daryl looked up at her with glassy eyes and she tried so hard not to cry.

"I reckon I love you too, Beth," he said.

His voice was small and low and quiet and Beth hadn't been sure whether she was imagining it or not. But then Daryl looked at her and she could see the uncertainty in his eyes because he was worrying about what he had just told her and then she knew that it was real. He had said it. He had finally told her what she had known for so long, but she had worried and wondered and doubted whether she really knew it - because how could she know for sure what he was feeling when he didn't tell her himself?

Beth insisted that she couldn't help but cry to him and she knew from how confused he looked that he didn't quite understand why she was crying. But now it was him holding her and she was scooting herself into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck and she cried.

"Y'alright?" he asked when she managed to calm herself down. Beth nodded her head into his neck but she didn't move away from him. She just breathed him in and placed gentle kisses to his neck and his jaw and then slowly made her way up his cheeks as Daryl rubbed the muscles at her lower back soothingly.

Beth wasn't sure what had happened in that moment, but not for the first time in the last few months, she noticed that things between her and Daryl were changing, and she was convinced that it was for the better.

**xxxxxx**

A knock on her office door caused Beth to jump slightly. Her last appointment had been almost an hour ago and she hadn't been expecting anyone else in the clinic that evening.

Beth called for the person to come in and was surprised to see Eugene walk through the office door. He shut it behind him and gave her a nod of his head.

"Eugene," she greeted, trying not to let her confusion show on her face. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually," he said, inviting himself to sit down in the chair across from her. Beth bit back a smile and carried on filing her papers away.

"Shoot," she told him.

Eugene cleared his throat.

"It's Jasmine," he began. Beth's face fell at that.

"Eugene, you've not been watching her again, have you? Because we already spoke about that and how it's-"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head. "Definitely not. I've been communicating with her."

"_Communicating_?" Beth tested the word on her tongue, her brows pulling together whilst she gave him a puzzled expression.

"Yes. Communicating."

"Communicating how?"

"Verbally," Eugene said. "We've been interacting almost every day. She's living in the house next door to me and she has been coming round for lunch and dinner a lot."

Beth's eyes widened at that and she knew that Eugene could probably - no, definitely - see the shock and surprise on her face, but she didn't even care anymore.

Just what on earth was he thinking? On that note, what was Jasmine doing?

That woman was up to something and Beth just knew it.

"Oh," was all Beth could think to say.

"I thought you would want to know about her situation. She's talking about wanting to see her children again."

Beth froze at that. She looked up at Eugene from her paperwork and didn't blink until he averted the eye contact.

"What are you saying, Eugene?" she asked. He didn't say anything in response. "Eugene."

"I think she's going to fight you for them," Eugene finally said. "I think Jasmine is going to go to Deanna and tell them she wants her babies livin' with her and not you."

"And what makes you think that?"

Eugene looked at Beth for a long moment, something in his big brown eyes that she just couldn't put her finger on.

"She told me so."

* * *

**I still haven't figured out how to reply to reviews so;**

**Brady66: It was because Beth still didn't know about his back that Daryl wasn't very amused at her little joke in the last chapter. Sorry that it didn't come across that way! And now she's seen it... so if you were right about Daryl wanting her to join him in cleaning up, maybe he'll finally let her because the cats out of the bag.**

**Also just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has followed/favourited/reviewed this story. This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction and it honestly means a lot to have your support, so thank you!**


	22. Chapter 22

"Can we keep him?" Beth asked, hope gleaming in her eyes. Daryl shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't see why not."

Beth squealed at that and lunged at him, standing on her tiptoes so that she could throw her arms around his neck and bury her head in his chest.

"Thank you!" She repeated the words over and over until she heard Daryl chuckle and then she pulled away from him just enough so that she could kiss his him.

In all truth, Beth had known that Daryl would say they keep could the puppy she had brought home, but she had been nervous about asking him anyway. He always said yes to things that she wanted and he never really fought her on much.

And there were things that Beth wanted but she never even asked for - like new material for some dresses she wanted to sew or new books for the clinic - that Daryl just seemed to know that she wanted and that he brought back for her.

Beth found it incredibly romantic whenever he presented her with the gifts. Even if he did stand there a little bit awkwardly and shrug it off as though it was nothing. As though he hadn't gone completely out of his way whenever he left the walls of Alexandria to find her the things that she wanted and sometimes actually really needed.

Now that he wasn't going on his missions for a while, Daryl made a effort to hunt more regularly and always managed to come back with something. Years ago Beth would have shrieked at the sight of a dead animal, but now she found herself skinning their carcasses and using their meat for her meals.

It was all incredibly domestic in a way.

"Where d'ya find the mut, anyway?" Daryl asked.

Beth narrowed her eyes at him as she crouched down to stroke the puppy. It was only a few weeks old and she knew that you should wait at least eight weeks to separate a pup from its mother, but its mother had unfortunately died shortly after having the litter and Mister Hopwood had told her all about it at his last check up.

"It's not a mut, Daryl. The dogs are actually pedigree, too, 'cause Mr and Mrs Hopwood had them from puppies just before the outbreak."

Daryl snorted at that.

"Like that matters," he mumbled. Beth just rolled her eyes at him.

"And I already _told_ you that Mr Hopwood told me that their mother died after she gave birth to them and he was having trouble getting anyone to look after them. They're meant to be a bit of a difficult breed..."

"Great," he muttered under his breath. Beth heard him but pretended she didn't.

"...because they're really protective of their family and aren't too keen on strangers, but I just saw his fluffy little face and I couldn't say_ no_. Just look at him, Daryl, and tell me that you could say no to this little face."

Beth picked up the puppy from the floor and held it close to her, burying her nose in its fur. It was so fluffy and full of energy and she just loved it so much already. The pup's fur was dark grey and black but Mr Hopwood had told her that it was known as a puppy coat and that he would shed it soon enough and his colour would probably go much lighter - shades of cream and caramel like his parents had been.

Beth had also managed to talk to one of the women from the pantry who seemed to like her a bit more than all of the others and had pleaded with her for a little bit more milk until she could start feeding the puppy meat in a few weeks. The woman hadn't been all too happy about it, but she had eventually given in to Beth's whining in the end.

"What is it?"

"An American Akita," Beth said proudly, remembering the name from her conversation with Mr Hopwood. "And we need to give him a name."

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"'Least he's American," he mumbled. Beth had to laugh at that she let the puppy back down and watched as it made its way around the living room curiously.

"Daryl Dixon, are you really gettin' all patriotic on me right now?"

"Nah," he said, smirking a little. Beth just shook her head. "So what are we callin' the lil' fella?" he asked.

Beth grinned.

"I was thinking 'Thor'."

**xxxxx**

"Beth!"

Beth looked up from where she was sat when a familiar voice called out her name.

"Maggie?" Beth questioned as the woman approached her with a warm smile on her face. Maggie was heavily into the second trimester of her pregnancy and was definitely showing. Her bump was huge, and Beth took that as a positive sign in regards to the babies health. She knew that bump size differed with every woman and that she shouldn't think too much of it, but she liked to think that Maggie's large bump was a good indicator about the health of her unborn child.

"What are you doin' here?" Maggie asked as she approached. Beth chewed on her lip for a moment, unsure of what to tell the woman.

"Erm..." she began, clearing her throat. "I'm here for an appointment with Deanna. I'm not really sure what she wants to discuss, to be honest," Beth stated.

That was a lie and Beth felt terrible about it.

Beth reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to know what Deanna wanted to speak to her about and that telling Maggie would probably cause more trouble than it was worth if it somehow got back to Deanna that Eugene had told her.

_Besides_, Beth thought to herself, _Deanna might not even want to talk to you about the twins._

"Oh," Maggie said, furrowing her brows before smiling again. "Well, I'm sure it's nothin' major."

"Yeah," was all Beth could reply with. It was that moment that Deanna chose to open the door to her office and invite Beth inside.

"Well, I'll see ya around, Beth," Maggie called after her. Beth just nodded her head in Maggie's direction before she walked through the door and into Deanna's main office.

It was a lot bigger than Beth's office at the clinic. And it was a lot more presentable, too. There was a big wooden desk that Deanna sat behind and a long brown leather couch that she invited Beth to sit on. Beth looked around the room for a moment in wonder. She had only been inside the room a few times before and that had been a while ago.

"You don't mind if I record this session, do you?" Deanna asked with a closed-lip smile. Beth just shook her head no - the recorder was already out and facing her anyway. Beth knew she didn't really have a say in the matter. "Beth, do you know why I've called you here today?"

Beth shook her head no and hoped that her face didn't give anything away.

"That's quite alright, not to worry. I know this might all be a little intimidating for you, but do try and relax. You're not in any trouble."

Beth shot Deanna a nervous smile and tried to settle herself comfortably on the couch.

"It's about the children living in your care..."

"My niece and nephew?" Beth said.

Deanna shot her a strange look before nodding her head slowly.

"Yes. Oliver and..."

"Ariella," Beth finished for her when the woman looked to the papers in front of her to try and remind herself of the name.

Deanna nodded her head.

"Yes."

"What about them?" Beth asked, feeling herself quickly becoming very defensive. Deanna didn't even know their names - was she honestly going to be trying to take the children away from her?

"It's their mother," Deanna began, and Beth's face fell.

She had known it was coming thanks to Eugene, but that didn't make it any easier. Part of her - a silly, _stupid_, childish part - had been hoping that Eugene had been wrong and that this was about something different entirely. Now she just felt a sense of uneasiness and disappointment.

"Jasmine came to me a few days ago and wished to speak to me about them possibly returning to her care and living with her in her new home. Permanently."

Beth shook her head from left to right and tried her hardest to stay calm, but she could already feel the panic settling in. Nobody could take them away from her. Those children meant more to her than anything and she'd be damned if she was going to let Jasmine use them as a weapon to steal back out of spite.

"Jasmine can't take care of them," Beth blurted out quickly. Deanna raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything, so Beth took that as an invitation to carry on. "I've looked after them from the day they were born. They haven't seen her for months now and I even told her not long ago that they probably wouldn't even recognise her if she walked past them in the street. And I _mean_ that."

Deanna looked shocked at that, and asked Beth to carry on. Beth took a deep breath in and carried on talking.

"Jasmine hasn't been a good mother to those children. I've looked after them from day one. And ever since we came here three years ago, I've been balancing working almost every day and caring for them, too, whilst she was out every night with different guys doing goodness knows what. And I was carin' for those babies when they were asking me where their mama was and askin' me whether she loved them, and then I had to sit there and listen to my own niece and nephew cry and tell me that they wanted me to be their mother."

Beth tried her hardest to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall, but it was all just too much and too raw and she couldn't bear the thought of anyone taking them away from her.

"I've loved them like they were my own flesh and blood, like I gave birth to them myself, since the day that they entered this world. It was me who delivered them, who fed them, who clothed them, who bathed them, who sang them to sleep, who got up in the night... It was all me. And I love Jasmine and always will, 'cause she's my _sister._ She's been my best friend since the world turned upside down." Beth looked down at her knees and wiped a few tears away before she looked up and met Deanna's eyes once again.

The woman had a good poker face. Just like Daryl. But Beth was sure she could see some sympathy there, some compassion for the girl who was pushed into a maternal role without much choice in the matter.

"Jasmine treated me like a babysitter and in turn her children look to me as their mama. They don't call it me and I never would want 'em too, because I'm _not_. But I mean it when I say that I love them like they are my own. And we know that they're Daryl's family as well, not just mine, and he loves them too. He's only been in their lives for a little while, but he's done more for them then their mother has. And that might sound harsh, but that's the_ truth_. I don't care what Jasmine wants. She's not takin' them from me. Not when she can't even look after herself."

Deanna nodded her head once and scribbled down some notes on her papers whilst Beth tried to compose herself. She steadied her breathing and wiped at her damp cheeks with the palms of her hands. Beth hadn't meant to get so upset, but the thought of Oliver and Ariella living with Jasmine who would just leave them alone whilst she swanned off to do whatever she pleased with whomever she pleased - married or not - just didn't sit right with her.

It more than didn't sit right with her.

"I can't let you take them away from me," Beth said firmly, causing Deanna to look up from where she was writing. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I love them more than I love myself and I'd rather _die_ than have somethin' awful happen to them. And living with Jasmine_ is_ somethin' awful happening, because she would just leave them alone all the time and they probably wouldn't even get fed or washed and..." Beth drew in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I just can't let you take them away."

"Don't apologise," Deanna said, removing the glasses that she had been wearing and placing them on the desk in front of her. "I think the information you have provided me with will suffice for now. I haven't completely made up my mind, but I think the best thing for now is for the children to carry on living with you until I do make a decision on this."

"Thank you," Beth mumbled, tucking some of her hair behind her ears. "I just... I love her too, you know? And I don't wish any harm on her or anything, but I... She's not capable. She just can't look after them properly. She's never been able to and she probably never will. And believe me when I say that I feel awful for telling you that, but it's the_ truth_. If I honestly thought that Jasmine wanted them because she loved them and would look after them..." Beth shook her head as she spoke, still in shock and disbelief that she was even here in the first place.

"Well. If I honestly thought that, then I wouldn't fight it. I'd _let_ her. But she _doesn't_ want them, not really. She's doing this to hurt me because I hurt her when I told her all of this and it's not my fault that it's the truth. Oliver and Ariella aren't _toys_, they're little people with their own minds and their own thoughts and beliefs and Jasmine doesn't care or understand that. She doesn't want them because they're her children. She wants them because it will hurt me and that's just not_ right_."

Deanna nodded her head.

"I understand. And I understand that this is a very emotive topic for you. I'll be in touch."

Beth thanked Deanna once more before she made her way out of the room and set off home. Daryl was waiting for her on one of the porch steps with Thor running circles around him. When the puppy caught sight of Beth walking towards their home, he went bounding towards her, his tiny little legs carrying him so quickly and Beth couldn't help but laugh as he jumped up at her.

Thor was small but he was quickly building outwards. His paws were huge in comparison to other puppies she had dealt with before the outbreak and Beth knew just from looking at him that he was going to be absolutely huge.

Daryl stood up as she approached and waited until she was stood in front of him before he raised a hand to her damp face. Beth could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew she had been crying and she answered the question that she could see burning in his eyes.

"It was alright," she told him and he nodded his head at that. "They're allowed to stay with us until Deanna makes a decision."

Daryl cursed under his breath.

"I know," she breathed, looking down at the floor for a moment before she looked back up at him. "But at least she's not taken them yet."

"Not gonna take 'em at _all_," Daryl growled at her, his expression hard. "I won't let her. Won't let anyone."

Beth smiled at that.

"Are they home yet?" Beth asked. Daryl shook his head no and Beth let out a sigh of relief.

"You gonna tell 'em?"

"No," Beth answered his question quickly. "No. I don't want to upset them if nothing's going to come of it."

Daryl nodded his head at her and Beth followed him up the steps to their home. She called for Thor to come and it took a minute or so of waiting before the puppy halted in running around the pathway stubbornly and finally decided to hop up the steps to their home and follow her inside.

"They're going to love him," Beth gushed to Daryl as she watched the puppy toddle into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Daryl said. "They are."


	23. Chapter 23

Walkers.

That's what Daryl called them. Beth had never been confident calling them anything - at first, she had called them zombies, but that had sounded so far-fetched and silly and it just didn't fit. She had heard other people calling them biters, and she had tried that, but it just didn't fit. In the end, Beth had settled for calling them what they were to her eyes - the dead.

Beth decided that it didn't matter what she called them anyway. Because they were awful and disgusting and confusing and they were a threat; but they were also outside of the walls and they were far away and when she lived like she did in Alexandria, it was easy to pretend that they didn't exist and that they weren't real.

But they were real and they were a terrible threat. And this morning they had killed three of Alexandria's people.

She wasn't sure who was dead yet, and the town was on strict lock-down; Deanna's orders. Nobody knew how they had gotten in and nobody knew how many of them there were. Beth had wanted to plead with Daryl not to leave her alone with the children; to stay with them and keep them safe in the house, just like she knew he really wanted to. But Daryl was torn and she could see it on his face when he had told her and she knew he wanted to stay, but she also knew he felt it was his job to protect this place and the other people, too.

Beth knew that he wasn't the type of man to hide inside the house whilst other people went outside and did the dirty work. No, he was the type of man that indulged in said dirty work and he wouldn't rest until he was sure that every single person in that town was safe. Daryl wouldn't rest until he was sure that she was safe, until he was sure that Oliver and Ariella were safe.

As if she didn't already know that anyway, Carol had told her as much.

"He won't trust anyone else to do the job," Carol murmured as she peeked out of the curtains that had been drawn over the living room window. Daryl had asked her to stay with Beth and the children; keep them company, make sure they were alright.

Beth didn't need anybody's help protecting herself or her babies and she wanted him to know that. After all, she had protected them and Jasmine for almost two years before they came to Alexandria. But she knew that he wouldn't settle unless he knew that someone he could trust was here to look out for them, too. To watch out for her in his absence.

It didn't make up for him being gone, but Beth couldn't hold it against him. All she could do was pray for his safe return and try her best to calm the children who didn't quite understand what was happening around them. One minute they had been playing happily in the school yard, the next they had been ordered to come home and their house was on lockdown.

Thor seemed to sense that something was off and he kept coming to Beth for reassurance and cuddles and Beth couldn't help but give him the attention he wanted. Even if Daryl had told her at least a dozen times that she was spoiling him. He could forgive her on this occasion, she was sure.

"He'll be fine," Carol said bluntly as Beth petted the puppy. Thor was growing handsomely and his ears had recently pricked up. It was times like these when Beth thought that she would be glad when he was fully grown and she could rely on him to protect them all, too. Not just Daryl.

"I know," Beth sighed, looking up to Carol from where she was sat on the couch. Carol crossed the room and sat herself down across from Beth. Oliver and Ariella were tucked away in their bedroom and Beth had made sure that all of the windows and doors that had access outside were locked and bolted so that there was no way they could open from the outside.

"Then stop worrying," Carol said. Beth shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't help it," Beth sighed. Carol gave her a knowing look.

"He'll be fine. He's always been fine. He knows what he's doing out there and it's better for all of us that he is."

Beth nodded her head in agreement before she returned her attention back to the puppy who was now lay on his back, his tongue hanging out in appreciation as Beth rubbed at his belly.

"Daryl told me about your sister," Carol said after a few minutes of silence passed between them. Beth wasn't sure what to say, so she didn't say anything. "He told me about what she's trying to do."

"Oh," was all Beth said. "Well... We don't know for sure what's going to happen yet. It's Deanna's decision."

"But you don't want them to go?" Carol pushed. Beth's face fell at that.

"No," she said. "Of course not. I don't want them to be anywhere but here, with me. Where I know they're safe and looked after."

Carol smiled a little at that.

"That's good to hear," she said. "I'm sure most people would jump at the opportunity to give them back to their mom if she wanted them."

"She doesn't want them though, that's the thing. Not really, anyway. She just wants to spite me. I can't put them at risk just because she says she wants to act like a parent now."

Carol nodded her head and didn't speak for a little while.

"Has Daryl told you about Sophia?" she asked. Beth was confused a little at the question and wasn't sure what to say, but she decided to settle for admitting the truth.

On the whole, she doubted that Carol would be annoyed at Daryl for telling her about it, but part of her still wasn't sure. She couldn't read Carol all that well and was never sure what to expect from her.

"Yes," Beth said simply.

"Has he told you about what happened to her? About when he looked for her after she went missing?"

"Yes," Beth said again.

"And what do you think of that? How did it make you feel to hear that I didn't look for her myself? Did you think any less of me as a mother? Did you think I didn't care about the well being of my own child?"

"That's - no," Beth stuttered, shocked at Carol's questions. "Of course not. That's not for me to judge. I would never think like that."

"I'm not trying to say that Jasmine's not a bad mother or anything like that," Carol said suddenly. "Don't think that. It just makes me think... you know. How people see me. How I see myself. Sometimes I do feel like I was a bad mother. Like I let my daughter down."

Beth offered Carol a comforting smile.

"That's not true, I'm sure," Beth said. "Jasmine... Jasmine has abandoned her children from the begining. From the little I know about you... I just can't see what you're saying to be true. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't think anyone thinks you're a bad mother."

"Thank you, Beth," Carol said. "It just plays on my mind sometimes."

"I understand," was all Beth said in response. And she did.

The two women didn't have much longer to wait until Daryl finally returned home. Carol stayed to talk to him for a few minutes before excusing herself and retiring back to her own house.

Once she had gone, Beth jumped up to Daryl and pulled him into a tight hug that he returned with just as much enthusiasm. Beth didn't care that he was covered in blood and gore - she was more than happy just to have him home where she knew he was safe.

"You know I can't help but worry when you're gone," Beth whispered. Daryl nodded his head and pulled away from her grip and she let out a shaky sigh when he kissed her on the lips.

Beth smiled before holding him close again.

"How many were there?" she asked. Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "A lot?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Are they all dead?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her then.

"Girl, d'ya really think I'd come here if there could still be any out there?"

Beth grinned at that and kissed him again.

**xxxxxx**

"No," Beth said as she stood in the doorway. "You don't get to do this to them."

Deanna sighed.

"We can do this here -"

"No," Beth repeated, jutting out her chin in defiance. "You'll just upset them. They don't even know who you are. If you have to do this, then you can do this in front of me."

Beth heard Daryl walking down the stairs. She could tell it was him from the weight of his movements and the sound of his boots against the floor. Deanna knew it was him, too, and Beth was glad that he was choosing to be particularly loud. The look on the other woman's face changed slightly when Daryl emerged at the bottom of the staircase.

Deanna nodded her head at him, but Daryl didn't return the gesture. Beth watched as he stared straight at the woman in the doorway, his fists clenched at the sight of her. Beth wondered if he had heard why she was here.

"You're not takin' 'em," he said.

So he hadn't heard.

"That's not why I'm here," Deanna explained, looking past Beth and straight at Daryl. "I'm just here to talk to them."

"So what's the problem?" Daryl asked.

Beth answered the question before Deanna got chance to.

"She wants to talk to them alone," Beth said. Daryl made his way towards her until he was stood beside her in the doorway, one of his hands resting on the small of her back.

She looked up at him with glistening eyes and hoped that he could understand what she was trying to tell him.

"Can't let you do that," Daryl eventually said to Deanna once he had broken eye contact with Beth. But Beth didn't look away from him and offered him a smile that she was sure he could see out of the corner of his eyes.

Deanna nodded her head in defeat.

"Alright. I'll allow you both to be present. But I would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt -"

"They're bound to want reassurance," Beth protested. "I understand that you have to talk to them about what they want from this and explain things to them, but if they want me to comfort them or anything else, then I'm not going to sit there and ignore them."

Beth wasn't sure where this side of her came from. She had always been protective of her family, but it was so different when it came to the children. Beth was feisty and straightforward and would make sure that nothing came to harm them.

Even if it risked putting her on the bad side of Deanna.

"Alright," Deanna finally agreed. Daryl showed her into the living room whilst Beth fetched the children.

She explained to them in a calm voice that they had a guest who needed to talk to them and that they shouldn't be worried because they weren't in trouble and that if they wanted to stop at any point, all they had to do was say and it would stop and the woman would leave.

"Shall we?" Deanna asked once Beth brought Oliver and Ariella into the room.

Oliver answered most of Deanna's questions, and Beth couldn't help but smile at him proudly as he did so. She saw Daryl smiling, too, and she knew that he felt the same way that she did about his nephew - their nephew.

"How would you two feel about living with your mother?"

"Mama?" Ariella asked, her eyes wide and shining, her curiosity peaking.

Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and didn't look all too pleased at the idea.

"I don't wanna leave Beth and Daryl," Oliver said stubbornly. Ariella looked at her brother before turning her attention back to Deanna.

"We have to leave?"

Beth heard the panic in her voice and swooped in without hesitation.

"Nobody is making you do anything," Beth said in a reassuring voice. "It's just a question, Ariella."

"I don't want to leave," Ariella said, mimicking her brother.

"And how would you feel about seeing your mother again - maybe for a few days?"

The twins were quiet then as they looked at each other. Beth had always found it to be beautiful how they had a language of their own. Similar to the way she could read Daryl without him having to say much at all - if anything - but their language was different in a way. The bond they shared as twins was powerful and everyone knew it.

"No," Oliver said, shaking his head as he finally broke eye contact with his sister and looked at Deanna. "We wanna stay here with Beth and Daryl."

Eventually, Deanna packed her things away and left, thanking the children for speaking with her and thanking Beth and Daryl for welcoming her into their home. Daryl nodded his head at her and closed the front door behind her as she made her way out of the house, turning to face Beth slowly.

Beth gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat and tucked some of her hair behind her ears.

"Surely she can't take them away now," Beth eventually said. "Not when they said they want to stay here. With us."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders before he made his way towards her and cupped her face in his hands.

"Gotta stop worryin'," he said to her in a low voice. "I already told you, I won't let anybody take 'em away."


	24. Chapter 24

Beth was grinning from ear to ear when she walked through the door to her home. She was greeted by Thor bouncing over to her and jumping up at her knees. Beth was pleasantly surprised with how quickly her puppy was growing and she was amazed to see how well he had been taking to the meat she had been trying him with.

"Daryl," Beth called as she made her way into the living room. She heard him grunt in response to her calling from the kitchen and she rushed in to find him shoveling some pasta that she had made the day before into his mouth.

Beth let out a little laugh at the sight of him before she made her way over to where he was sat at the kitchen island. He gave her a confused look as she skipped towards him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing him firmly on the cheek.

"Good news?" Daryl asked. She knew that he knew the answer to that question already just from her behaviour and Beth couldn't help but giggle.

"Yes," she breathed. "Amazing news, actually. They're staying."

Daryl smiled at that - a genuine happy smile that showed off his teeth - before he turned his head in her direction and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"Told ya they would be," he said.

"'Cause nobody messes with big, bad, Daryl Dixon and his family, right?" she teased. Daryl just nodded his head at her and bumped her nose with his.

"Right," he growled, nipping at her bottom lip with his teeth. Beth squealed and rushed away in the direction of the fridge so that she could plate some of the pasta up for herself.

"So what did she say?" Daryl asked as Beth placed her food in the microwave.

Beth shrugged her shoulders.

"Not much, really," Beth said. "Jasmine's apparently not too happy about it... threatening about leaving here and all sorts."

Daryl raised his eyebrows at that but didn't say anything about it. Beth bit down on her lip as she removed the food from the microwave and began to stir it before placing herself down next to him so that they could eat together.

There was something that Beth wanted his advice on, but she wasn't quite sure how to go about talking to him about it. Beth wasn't sure how he would react to what she had to say and didn't want him blowing his lid at her. He had quite the temper and she had learned the hard way that he preferred dealing with things by stomping away and brewing over them in his mind whilst he hunted outside of the walls until he calmed down.

Sometimes all it took for him to get calm was a few hours, but other times - like the time that she revealed that Merle was the father of Oliver and Ariella - it could take days.

"I kind of want to speak to her about it... Jasmine, I mean."

Beth waited for him to blow up on her, but he just shrugged his shoulders at her when he realised she was staring at him.

"What do you think?" she pushed.

"Dunno," Daryl mumbled as he piled more pasta into his mouth. Beth waited for him to continue. "Guess I don't see why you would wanna talk to her 'bout it when she's been such a bitch 'bout everythin'. But she's your sister, so I get it."

Beth blinked at him.

"You do?"

"Yeah."

They didn't say anything more about it then. Beth knew that she had a lot to think about in regards to talking with Jasmine. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to or if she felt as though she was obliged too, and if it was the latter, then she didn't want to bother wasting her time. Beth knew deep down that Jasmine had burned all of her bridges with Beth and that her actions spoke louder than her words.

To say she had caused such a fuss over having the twins live with her, she had made no effort to come and visit them since their birthday - not that she had seen them on that day, either.

"Hey," Beth spoke up suddenly. She jumped up from her seat and crossed the room, heading over towards the door where she hung the calendar. "You know what I've just realised?"

"What?" Daryl asked. Beth checked the calendar to confirm her suspicions before turning back to him again, a huge grin on her face.

"It's your birthday in two weeks."

That was all it took for Daryl to drop his fork onto his plate and begin shaking his head very dramatically.

"Beth, I don't know what you're thinkin', but you better stop thinkin' it, 'cause -"

But Beth wasn't listening as she grinned, dancing her way around the kitchen towards him. She fell into his lap and laughed as he continued to protest against the things that she hadn't told him she was planning, but she knew that it was probably written all over her face that she was thinking about all of the ways that they could celebrate his birthday.

"Beth," he said firmly. "No."

"But _Daryl_," Beth pouted as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know it would make me _so_ happy to throw you a birthday party."

"Beth."

"And Oliver and Ariella would love it, too. They've never seen you for one of your birthday's before."

"Beth."

"And I know how much you loved the cake I made last time, I could make another one for you. I would actually love to make another one for you."

Daryl huffed at that and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You really tryin' to guilt trip me into my own _birthday_?" he asked. Beth giggled a little at his sour expression and just nodded her head up and down.

"I suppose I am, yes," she grinned. At this point, Beth knew that she had Daryl wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was ask and he would do whatever it took to get her what she wanted.

Even if that involved throwing him a party.

"Never had a birthday party before," he said in a low voice. Beth's face fell a little at that but she pushed it up with a dazzling smile.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to make sure we throw you the best party ever," she said. Her eyes glinted mischievously as she leaned into him a little bit more and lowered her voice as best she could. "Besides, there are other things we can do to celebrate," she purred down his ear.

That got his attention.

"We celebratin' tonight, too?" he asked. Beth just nodded her head before he pulled her in close for a burning kiss.

**xxxx**

_"But you're untouchable, burning brighter than the sun, now that you're close, I feel like coming undone."_

Beth grinned as her niece sang along with her. The two of them had been practicing for a while now since Ariella's show with the choir coming up, and Beth had been so proud to hear that she had been given one of the lead roles in the performance.

She was only young but her voice was so sweet and Beth had even been showing her how to play the basic chords and notes for songs on the piano and Ariella was picking it up exceptionally fast.

_"In the middle of the night when I'm in this dream, it's like a million little stars spelling out your name, you gotta, come on, come on - say that we'll be together, come on, come on, oh."_

Beth helped her out with some of the words and some of the notes that she forgot and she was overall impressed that she could remember any of it at all. Beth had been a little bit older than Ariella when she was taught how to play and she was so impressed by how well Ariella was doing.

_"In the middle of the night when I'm in this dream, I wanna feel you by my side standing next to me, you gotta, come on, come on - say that we'll be together. Come on, come on -"_

_"Little taste of Heaven."_

Ariella finished off the song for her and Beth grinned down at her once it was over.

"You did really well," Beth said, ruffling her light brown hair. Ariella beamed up at her.

"I practiced," she told her. Beth just nodded her head at that.

"I can tell," Beth said. "You're doing amazing. You need to make sure that you carry on praciticng and -"

"One day I'll be able to play as good as you?" Ariella interrupted. Beth giggled at that.

"Even better than me," Beth said. "I just know it."

Once they had finished practicing together, Beth took Ariella upstairs and got her bathed before she did the same for Oliver. She was never sure how Oliver got so filthy when his sister managed to stay so clean all of the time. He was always up to something - which reminded her that one of the teachers at the school had cornered her when she had dropped him off that morning and had a quick word with her about his behaviour.

"Oliver, one of your teachers has spoken to me this morning," she began as she scrubbed at his back whilst he busied himself with one of his toys. "Can you guess what she spoke to me about?"

Oliver shook his head no as Beth poured some shampoo into his filthy hair and began massaging it into his scalp.

"She told me that you've been fighting with one of your classmates and that you hurt him quite badly yesterday."

Oliver didn't say anything and allowed Beth to pour water over his hair in a bid to wash out the shampoo. Once Beth was finished cleaning him, he looked up at her from where he was sat in the bath and grumbled something under his breath.

"Oliver," Beth pushed. "Is it true that you've been fighting with another boy?"

"Yes," he said. Beth sighed, her lips falling down as she frowned.

"You know that sort of behaviour isn't acceptable," Beth said. "I don't know why on earth you would think that it was, but you need to quite whilst you're ahead. I don't want to have to tell Daryl about this incident, but if it happens again then I will be talking to him about it and he can discuss this with you instead."

Oliver looked up at her with stubborn eyes, but he didn't fight her on it.

"Now, tomorrow when you go to school, I want you to apologise to that boy and your teacher for your behaviour and I want you to promise me that it won't happen again."

He was silent for a minute until Beth said his name in a warning tone.

"Alright, alright," he caved, splashing the water as he stood up to get out of the bath. "I promise."

Beth smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, leaving him to dry off and get himself into his pajamas. Once he had changed, she tucked him into bed and told him that she loved him before wishing him sweet dreams.

"Everythin' alright?" Daryl asked when Beth finally came into their bedroom. Beth just nodded her head at him.

"Oliver got into a bit of trouble at school," she told him. "But don't worry - I handled it."

Daryl just nodded his head and watched as she removed her clothes. Beth gave him a knowing smirk before she made her way over towards the bed.

"We still celebratin'?" he asked and Beth grinned at him.

"Why of course, Mr Dixon," she teased, squealing as he grabbed her and pulled her down underneath him.

* * *

**The song that Beth and Ariella sing in this chapter is Untouchable by Taylor Swift.**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter - I love reading your reviews!**


	25. Chapter 25

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. The first bit is a bit fluffy. **

**Let me know what you think!**

* * *

A nervous sigh escaped Beth's lips as she glanced around the garden of her home, taking everything in. She began ticking things off her mental list, making sure she didn't leave anything out.

_Lanterns_. That was a definite check. The fences and the trees and the walls of the back end of the house were covered in multi-coloured lanterns that would later be lit up and would glow in the night.

_Food. _That was also a definite check. Beth had managed to talk her way into borrowing some extra picnic tables and she had covered them in food. Beth had placed tinfoil over all the food so that no insects - or Thor - could make their way to it, but much like with Oliver and Ariella's party, she had prepared more than enough to feed the whole town. Sandwiches, little cakes, chocolate, homemade pizza and pasta with different sauces and meat toppings, crackers... the list was probably endless.

Beth had begged Rick to find a way to get his hands on some beer and cider and Rick had somehow managed to bring it to her. Beth knew that he had to have left the gates to find it and she couldn't thank him enough, but he told her over and over again not to mention it. But Beth was more than grateful to him for it and made sure that he knew she was.

_Games. _Beth knew that Daryl wouldn't want to play any games himself - she often teased him for being such a grouch - but since she knew he would want his niece and nephew there, who in turn would want to bring friends of their own to the party, Beth made sure that she set up some games to entertain them.

She had made a target on a tree trunk for the boys to aim at (Oliver had received a child sized bow from Daryl for his birthday present and made sure everyone knew how good at shooting he was) and put some paints and paper on a little table for the girls. She brought out some old board games, too, and a few decks of cards in case any of the adults felt a little playful, too.

_Music. _Beth gasped when she realised she had forgotten to bring out the old CD player that was in the kitchen. Beth had snagged it from when some of the men had brought back a huge load of items from a run when she first arrived in Alexandria and she absolutely adored it. Beth didn't have that many CD's at first, but she had been collecting them for the years that she had been there, and Daryl had brought her many back from his trips outside of the walls, too.

She had quite a collection now, and she was thankful that the machine had a long wire so that she could prop it up on the kitchen windowsill and open up the big windows so that it would blast music out to entertain everyone.

That's everything, she thought to herself.

She had spent days preparing for the party and had made sure to invite all of Daryl's friends. Daryl was still extremely distant from the people of Alexandria so Beth's guests consisted mainly of the original group that he had arrived with, plus a few extra children who were friends with Carl and then some that were friends with the twins, along with their parents. Beth had been told by some of her patients that Rick had been getting a little bit friendly with Jess, the woman who's (now dead) husband Jasmine had been sleeping with for a while.

As always, Beth reminded her patients that she wasn't bothered or interested about the gossip in Alexandria and that it was up to people to make their own decisions and it was definitely not any of her business what other people were up to.

But secretly, she couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. She had always thought that there was something different between Rick and his colleague, Michonne (who admittedly was a tiny bit intimidating). They just seemed to suit each other and get along incredibly well, and Beth had been sure there was something there.

A knock on the door distracted Beth from her thoughts and she scolded herself for getting so caught up in her own mind. She rushed to the door and let in the first guests who were arriving. It was Rick and Michonne along with Carl and Judith, and Beth grinned at the sight of the baby. She was growing fast - not really a baby anymore, she was instead progressing into her time of being a toddler - and Beth was impressed.

Rick had stopped bringing Judith for as many check-ups as he used to, and although Beth missed the company of the child, she was glad that the little girl was healthy and growing and developing normally in a world that was truly anything but ordinary.

"Where is the birthday boy?" Rick grinned as Beth brought her guests out to the garden, Judith sitting happily on her hip.

"He's out with Aaron," Beth said. "I asked Aaron to take him out for a few hours so I could set everything up."

"You've not told him?" Michonne said with wide eyes. Beth laughed.

"No, no, I've told him. I told him about a week ago, so I didn't surprise him too bad."

"Still... I doubt he's expecting all _this_," Rick commented as he looked around, squinting. He nodded his head at Beth, a closed lip smile on his face. "It looks good Beth. Real good."

"Thank you," Beth said. She usually wasn't one to boast or brag, but she was more than pleased with her work. It had taken a while to set up and a lot of concentration had been involved, but she was glad to see the results.

"If you don't mind, I'm just going to go and change before the rest of the guests arrive," Beth excused herself briefly.

She picked out a light pink summery dress that fit her wonderfully - tight around the waist and looser around the bottom so that it danced around when she twirled. Beth knew these types of dresses were Daryl's favourite on her, and she had claimed this one as her own a while back but had never worn it in front of him - saving it for a special occasion.

Beth had straightened her hair and left it to tumble down the back of her dress. That was something she knew Daryl liked, too, because whilst he wasn't one for words, he almost always complimented her 'pretty hair' whenever she wore it down, and especially when she wore it straight. She matched the outfit with a white pearl necklace and matching earrings and wore her white gladiator sandals that tied up a quarter way of her legs.

The rest of the guests arrived in due time, and soon it was just Daryl and Aaron that everyone was waiting on. The children were running wild and the music was playing loudly. Some people were dancing and almost everyone was drinking. Beth was relieved that everyone was having a good time, and she was so caught up in watching out of the kitchen window that she didn't even hear someone approaching behind her.

"Beth?"

She knew that voice.

She span around and shot Daryl a dazzling smile that he couldn't help but return. Beth was relieved that he wasn't covered in blood or guts or mud - in fact, it looked as though he hadn't even been outside of the gates. She was relieved that Aaron had made sure that he kept himself clean.

Beth ran to him and jumped at him, hugging him like she hadn't seen him for days, when in reality it had only been hours. She kissed him firmly on the lips before pulling away, biting her lip whilst glancing from his eyes to the sight of the people in the garden and then back at him.

"What do you think?" she asked tentatively. Daryl just shook his head at her.

"'S too much for me, girl," he told her, and Beth just smiled. "You shouldn't have done all-"

"Shut up," she silenced him before placing another kiss to his lips. "Come on. You've got guests who want to wish you a happy birthday."

The party continued until late in the evening. Oliver and Ariella were absolutely exhausted but insisted that they wanted to stay up as long as possible to celebrate their uncle's birthday. In the end, Ariella had sent herself to bed, but Oliver had stubbornly fought sleep for as long as he possibly could.

That was until he passed out in Daryl's arms, and Daryl held onto him as he stood at the front door beside Beth as they thanked everyone for coming and saw them out of the house. Beth had more than enough food leftover and had wrapped some up for everyone to take home and was handing it too them as they left.

Beth was relieved the party had been a success. Unlike Oliver and Ariella's, there had been no drama at all. Everyone had a good time and it seemed as though all of the guests were in good spirits.

Daryl didn't even seem to mind when Rick had started teasing him about when he was going to have children of his own, even though Beth did notice the tips of his ears turning red when Michonne gave them both a knowing look.

It was Daryl who closed the front door once their last guest had left, and Beth let out a sigh before she ruffled Oliver's hair from where his head was resting on Daryl's shoulder.

"He's flat out," Beth giggled. Daryl nodded his head.

"Sure is," he commented. "I'll take him upstairs."

"Okay," Beth nodded. "I'll lock everything up down here and meet you upstairs."

Beth crept into the bedroom not too long later, not wanting to wake Daryl if he had already gone to bed. She was pleased to find that he hadn't. Instead, he was stood there in his tartan red and green pajama pants fluffing up the pillows on her side of the bed. Daryl had slowly but surely become a lot more confident around Beth and he rarely ever wore a shirt to bed anymore. Sometimes he even didn't wear one around the house when it was just the two of them.

More than anything, Beth was just glad that he felt comfortable enough around her not to bother with one. Shirts were like his armor in a way, and she was happy that he was happy enough with her to let her see him - _all_ of him, including his vulnerable side.

"I got you something," she told him as she presented him with a small bag of gifts. He said her name in a warning tone, and she just pushed the bag into his hands. Beth was nervous and hoped that he liked his presents. All of his friends had brought gifts for him and he seemed to appreciate every single one. She knew that Daryl didn't expect anything from her - or the twins, either - but she had wanted to get him something.

The first present he opened was from Ariella. It was a picture she had painted of the two of them together, and Daryl's face lit up in a genuine smile as he looked at it. She had attached a little story she had written about her brave Uncle Daryl, too, and Beth had teared up herself when she had read it.

The next present was from Oliver. Oliver's present was some arrows that he had made for Daryl's bow. He had spent weeks trying to make them and Beth had helped him as much as she could. She didn't really know anything much about bolts and arrows and crossbows, but Daryl had told Oliver a lot of things about his bow, and Oliver had passed that information on to Beth. She had helped Oliver with the measurements and Daryl even admitted that the bolts were actually really good.

"I helped him out a little," Beth admitted. "But he did most of the work. I'd never even seen an arrow up close until you showed me yours." Daryl laughed a little at that and he looked genuinely happy with all of his gifts.

Finally, he opened the present that Beth had gotten for him. Beth bit her lip nervously as he opened it and held it in his hands. It was a framed picture of the four of them that Beth had taken on the polaroid a while ago, and it was one of her favourites. She had made the picture frame herself and had painted it, too. It was bright and colourful and had 'family' spelled out across the bottom.

Daryl smiled up at Beth from where he was sat on the bed and shook his head at her as he pushed his gifts aside.

"Better come 'ere, girl," he growled, and Beth grinned as she rushed towards him, practically jumping into his lap before she kissed him passionately.

"You like them?" Beth asked when she broke the kiss so that she could breathe. Daryl nodded his head eagerly before he dove right back into their kiss, and she couldn't help but grin as he did so.

**xxxx**

"What do you mean, she's _gone_?"

Beth glared straight at Deanna as she spoke. Deanna cleared her throat awkwardly before she spoke again.

"She's just... She's gone, Beth. I'm so sorry."

Beth shook her head and was sure that her legs were going to collapse from underneath her. Daryl must have thought that, too, because he was at her side in seconds, allowing her to lean on him for support.

"How?" Beth choked out.

"I don't know," Deanna said honestly, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke. Deep down, Beth knew that Deanna felt guilty as she told Beth the news. "She hadn't been to work for a few days, so I sent someone to check on her. But she wasn't home. I've asked around town... nobody has seen her in days."

"What about Eugene?" Beth said quickly. "Eugene Porter. He's my colleague, Jasmine's neighbour. He's gotten close with her, they were -"

"Having dinner together most evening's," Deanna finished for her, and Beth's breathing slowed down slightly. "I know. I've already spoken to him, Beth. I know this is all very hard for you to take in, and I am very sorry that I have to come to you with this, but you have to believe me that I am doing everything I can to help you out here. I am just as concerned for Jasmine's welfare as you are, Beth. You have to trust me on that."

Beth had so many things she wanted to say, so many questions that she wanted to ask, but she felt like she couldn't breathe as it was, never mind speak.

Somewhere in her mind, she heard Daryl thanking Deanna for coming and telling Beth personally, and she heard him talking to her about tracking Jasmine. Beth wanted to tell him that he wasn't going anywhere after her sister. She just couldn't let him. As much as she was worried for her safety, Jasmine had made up her mind, and if she wanted to come back to Alexandria then she would. But she still couldn't open her mouth.

Once Daryl had moved away from her so that he could close the front door, he gave her a long look that she didn't recognise on him. His expression was pained, and she suddenly felt very detached from everything.

What is going on?

"Y'alright?"

Beth didn't move.

"Beth."

She heard him say her name and she knew that she was staring at him and she probably looked like a creep but she just physically couldn't move. All she could do was think about her sister - about how long they had been together for, about everything they had been through.

The people that they had lost.

The people that they had found.

This place - this _sanctuary_ \- the promise of safety that it brought for them.

And now she had left the place that they had found together. She had abandoned her children a long time ago, but now she had abandoned them for good - not only them, but Beth, too.

Beth wasn't sure how she had ended up lay in her bed in Daryl's arms, and she wasn't sure when she had started crying, either. All she knew was that she couldn't stop.

Some time passed before Beth was able to calm herself down and speak again. Daryl had held her throughout her crying fit and had done everything she could have possibly wanted him to. He had rubbed her back and her shoulders, he had stroked her hair and massaged her head. He had placed kisses on her face and he had wiped away her tears. Beth wanted to thank him for it, but she knew he didn't need her thanks, anyway. Daryl was never nice to her so that he could receive a thank you from her.

So Beth said the first thing that came to mind; the only thing that really felt honest and appropriate in this scenario.

"Why does she always have to ruin _everything_?"


End file.
